Welcome to the Five Steps to The Rest of Your Life
by mzmtiger
Summary: Matt Rutherford has a five step plan for the rest of his life, and his career in football. A junior year ensemble story with a focus on the football season, with an emphasis placed on Matt, Kurt and Mike.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: If I owned Glee, Matt and Mike would have lines. Lots of them. See my point?**

Matt Rutherford has a five-step plan for getting out of Lima. It's not that he really minds his hometown; it's got some cool stuff. But what it doesn't have is a pro football team. And Matt Rutherford is determined to play pro football.

You see, Matt is good at football. Really, really good at football. He's gone to football camps in the summer where coaches have approached him and told him just that. But when you go to McKinley, and they win one game a season on a trick play, college coaches aren't exactly lining up to buy tickets to your games. Plus, apparently nobody taught anybody in the entire town of Lima how to block.

But back to the five-step plan. It's made up of five major steps composed of littler, less drastic steps. And Matt doesn't have any delusions about the difficulty of this plan. But this is what he's got to do, because dreams are important.

Step Two is to win half of their games his junior year. Matt knows that this is possible, because he's getting better and better at running without blocks, Puck and Finn can help him out with scoring occasionally, and Mike's playing corner in a defense that's pretty damn solid. That should at least get some coaches interested enough to start talking to him outside of summer camp.

Step Three is to win an Ohio state championship his senior year. He's knows this sounds farfetched right now, but the ingredients are all there. When the incoming freshmen are sophomores, all those fabulous linemen that class is producing will get to play, so he'll finally have someone to run behind. Finn and Puck will hopefully only get better. As long as the defense has Mike at one corner and Jim at the other, plus a couple beastly linemen, Matt's not too worried about that. That should get the kind of colleges he needs interested him.

Step Four is to sign with Ohio State. There, he'll go on to eternal glory and god-like status on campus as he collects awards and trophies. Hopefully, one of those trophies will be a Heisman. He's already started working on his speech, because if you believe it, you can achieve it. God, when did he start talking like Rachel?

And Step Five is, of course, ever-lasting celebrity and millions of dollars for playing the game he loves in the NFL. Super Bowl rings and MVP awards come into play at this stage of the plan. But of course, before he can accomplish any of the other steps, he's got to take care of Step One.

And Step One's the hardest; because Step One is _convince Kurt Hummel to go out for the football team for two more years_.

Now, it's not purely for selfish reasons he thinks Kurt should go out for the football team. It actually does cut down on the bullying he faces, and if the bullies still want to mess with him, there are actually about twenty guys on the football team who won't stand for people messing with their teammates. And that includes Kurt, sexual preference aside. Plus, he knows that Kurt likes kicking, and that Kurt likes just how proud it makes his dad.

And, he honestly does like Kurt. The kid is funny as hell and nice when you're on his side, and willing to help you out with just about anything you ask and he doesn't take shit and he sticks up for his friends. And the boy can kick like a mule. It's not even funny how much natural talent that kid has built up in that skinny right leg of his.

And Matt needs that golden leg, because he can only carry the offense so far on his back. So when the offense stalls, he needs Kurt to come in and finish the job. And because dreams are important and to achieve it you have to believe it, he's got to talk to Kurt.

So when Mercedes calls him and asks if he wants to hang out with her, Mike, Quinn, Brittany and Kurt, he starts looking for his keys before she even finishes the question. Mercedes tells him they're hanging at Kurt's and he should come over as soon as he can. Matt's already pulling out of his driveway.

It takes him the entire drive over plus the entire four and a half hours that they hang out in Kurt's basement, watching _Breakfast Club_ and then _Footloose,_ to work up the courage to talk to Kurt. The last half hour is spent arguing over whether Mike could out-dance Kevin Bacon. In the end they decide he can, just before Burt yells down the stairs that he's heading to bed, and Kurt tells them everyone should probably head home.

Matt's still nervous, but school starts in just over a month, and he wants to leave himself as much time as possible to convince Kurt to do it. Matt wonders for a moment where Finn is, but decides not to add that to his particular list of worries. He parked in the street so he doesn't have to let anyone out since he arrived last. Cause this is just one tiny step in the big plan. _Believe, achieve_, he says in his head as Kurt kisses Mercedes's cheek and hugs her before she leaves the basement, calling out a good-bye to Matt as she goes. Kurt didn't seem to realize that he had still been there.

"How can I help you, Matt?" he asked, and Matt shoved his hands into his pocket just for something to do with them and took one giant breath before he starts talking.

"I need a favor. And it's not a little favor like 'Let me borrow your pencil or please play the piano for the solo I'm never gonna get.' Or one of those, like, major ones where I owe you like seven in return, you know, 'Let me drive your car on my date tonight so she's impressed or pretend to be my girlfriend for a wedding," Kurt raises his eyebrows at the last part and Matt holds his hands up defensively, "Not that I would ever ask you to do that, it's just an example. But, uh, it's not that kind of favor, I promise. It's actually the kind of favor where I basically owe you for the rest of my life.

"I know that you and I aren't best friends, like Mike and I or you and Mercedes, and that we weren't even friends at all until, like, partway through last year, but we're pretty good friends now, so I figured I would give it a shot," here he takes a giant breath to mentally prepare himself, "I want you to play football the next two years," he finished, and the look on Kurt's face would have been comical if Matt's entire future hadn't depended on the smaller boy's answer.

Matt started speaking again before Kurt could try answering, "I know maybe that's not your idea of fun, but I know you do like kicking, I know you do, cause when you're kicking, you have that same look on your face that Mike has when he's dancing or Mercedes has when she's singing or I have when I'm running for touchdowns. And I know it makes your dad proud, and man, you got talent out the whazoo. I mean it; you've got more talent then that whole team. I've seen you at practice, out there kicking fifty, sixty yarders like it's cake, man. Most guys would give several important body parts to be able to kick like that.

"The team needs you, and not that you need the team or anything, but they could certainly help you out. It's hard for Mike and I to keep up with all the crap people try to do to you, and it's not that we're not willing to keep it up, but if you were on the team, it would be so much easier for all involved parties.

"And my whole future kind of depends on this, not to put you under any pressure or anything, but I've kind of got this five step plan, but that won't really work out well if the first step falls through. That's you by the way, getting you to play is the first step, because nobody on that team can score except for me, really, and most of them are literally as dumb as bricks. They're never getting out of this town, but I got to man, I just have to. Not that Lima's that bad or anything, it's just not my dream, you know? It's not what gets me to smile after a bad day or makes a rainy practice or sore legs or begging one of your friends to please, God, play football totally worth it.

"And I do like you as a friend, man, you're cool and all, and it would make it a whole lot easier on both of us if there was more crossover between football and Glee, because even the morons that make up most of our team aren't dumb enough to mess with the guys who win them football games. And, plus, who knows-."

"Matt. Matt! Matthew Rutherford!" Kurt saying his full name distracts him from his speech, and he looks at the other boy, "You're aware that you're rambling, right?"

Matt nodded, "Yeah, I am, but this is really, really important and-."

Kurt cuts him off, as in actually gives the cut-off sign that Mr. Schue gives in Glee, and Matt takes a deep breath and stops. Kurt makes the motion that indicates he should take several more, and Matt simply follows instructions, because there's really nothing left to say.

"You have a five-step plan?" asked Kurt, and Matt nodded, "And I'm step number 1?" another nod, "And this step requires me to play football for two more years?"

"Yeah, sorta. Well, not sorta. Totally. It totally requires you to play football for the next two years."

Kurt considers it for a moment, then shrugs, and Matt's confused for a moment before he speaks, "Why not? Sure."

Matt does a double take when he says that, "Sure? As in you'll do it?" and Kurt nodded, "I didn't expect it to be that easy."

Kurt shrugged again, "You had a lot of good points. I do enjoy kicking, I do enjoy how proud it makes my dad, I am your friend, it would provide me, and hopefully by extension my friends, a certain level of protection. And, plus, it would be useful having someone owe me big time."

Matt is pretty sure he'll have to have someone scrape his jaw off the floor, and as soon as someone does that, he kind of wants to give Kurt Hummel a giant hug. Like the kind of hug you give your best buddy when he tells you something awesome, like, well, he doesn't really know what Mike could tell him that would make him want to hug him that hard. He wants to break ribs with this hug.

He really hadn't thought that it would be this easy. Matt had figured that it would take several weeks, and the possible recruitment of Mercedes and Quinn as co-conspirators to convince Kurt to do it. And now Kurt is standing there, having agreed to this slightly crazy plan with almost no effort but much nervousness on Matt's part, looking at him like he can leave the basement at any time because Kurt has to get started on his nightly moisturizing routine.

Matt sticks his hands in his pockets before he speaks, "Well, uh, thanks, man. You have no clue how much this means to me. Uh, camp's in a few weeks, so, uh, I'll probably see you before then, and I can give you the details. Uh, so, good night," he said, not sure how to thank the guy whose helping to make your biggest dream come true, so he leaves before his awkwardness manages to talk Kurt out of it.

But when he gets out to his car, he jumps in the air several times as he pumps his fist, and then does a dance that would probably be embarrassing if he wasn't so damn happy. When he gets home that night, he's still got this ridiculous grin on his face as he crosses off the first step on the poster he's got hanging above his bed.

_If you can believe it, you can achieve it_, says the voice in his head that sounds like a ridiculous, scary mix between Rachel and Mr. Schue, but Matt is too happy and tired to worry about that now. It's down to a four-step plan, and that feels pretty good.

**So I'm kind of inappropriately in love with Matt Rutherford and Mike Chang. And I know you're all like "But, Zoe, they've only had like four combined lines. How can you love them that much?" But I do. I also love Kurt Hummel. A ridiculous amount of love for him.**

**And so I kind of want to make this a multi-chapter fic about the football team, with it mainly following those three's story lines (with kind of a primary focus on Matt). Like the story of Glee is told through football, rather then us finding out about football because of something in Glee. It would include the whole cast, of course, and still contain plenty about Glee Club, but Glee just wouldn't be the thing that was the main focus. I'm probably going to write it even if there's no interest, but if you were interested, you could let me know in a review, while you're telling me what you thought of the story.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Since there seems to be enough interest in this fic, I'm really looking forward to continuing it, but I do have a few notes before we start. One, I probably won't include any of the spoilers that we already know for season two in this fic, and if it continues long enough to overlap with the second season, canon will probably have little impact on it. Second, I'll probably just stick to the original twelve Glee kids, at least for the beginning, and most likely will not add any characters ever (even the ones that we've been spoiled for), because building on Matt and Mike and writing all the other characters will be enough without having to create important OCs. Now that I'm done rambling, on to the story!**

The blaring of his alarm causes him to groan and roll over. Matt _hates_ Mondays, even Mondays in the summer, because Mondays mean he has to go lift at 6:30 in the morning for the next four days before he's free again. Not that Matt minds lifting, it's just that he wasn't even aware that the sun rose until about noon in the summer until he'd started high school.

When his phone starts buzzing along with the alarm clock, he gives up on the hope that this is just a bad dream and gets up to get dressed. The rest of the house is quite, since everyone else is asleep, but his sister must have left the television on last night, because he pours himself a bowl of cereal as some Disney Channel show plays in the background. He shakes his head at his sister's taste as he shovels most of the cereal into his mouth in three tries while he checks his messages.

_Mike: can u pick me up? cant find my keys_

Matt rolls his eyes at his best friend and taps out a reply quickly as he leaves the bowl in the sink and heads out the door. Since Mike loses his keys about every third day, Matt had left himself the required fifteen minutes it took to get to Mike's house and back to McKinley.

It's only a five minute drive to Mike's, and the other boy is waiting on his porch when Matt pulls up in his Dodge Dart, wearing shorts and a cut-off, and looking as though a comb hadn't come anywhere near his hair in at least a week. Matt throws open the passenger side door, since it won't open from the outside, and Mike slides in, groaning when he hears the CD that Matt has in.

"Julia Nunes again? Seriously? Don't you ever get tired of listening to her?"

"One, hell to the no. Two, I know you ain't be bashing on my girl Nunes. Cause I will slap an Asian boy who needs a ride to weights or he is walking. Three, if you don't want to listen to her, maybe you should keep track of your car keys."

"Maybe I lose them on purpose because I enjoy your company so much."

In response, Matt just turned the music up, and Mike groaned again.

"It's better then that techno crap you're always blasting out of your car. That is, when you can start it."

"Oh, you watch it, Shaft. Cause I _will_ slap you, and then I will put nasty, wet, disgusting things in your trunk during football camp."

"If you lay a finger on my car, I will kill you, Chang. I have absolutely no reservations. At least if I'm in prison, I won't have to drag your sorry butt around anymore."

"Oooh, I'm so scared, Matt. Gonna get your sister to beat me up for you?"

"You know Jane could kick your ass any day, Mike, so stop flapping your jaw. I have good news," Matt said, and Mike wiggled his eyebrows in a way that would have seriously disturbed Matt if he hadn't been doing it since third grade, "Kurt's in."

"No way! You talked him into it? In one shot? You should work for the FBI, dude, cause your negotiating skills have got to be sick mad. Did you have to pull the Mercedes and Quinn card?" Mike asked, and Matt shook his head.

"I rambled for a bit about all the reasons I thought he should do it, and told him about my five-step plan, and he sort of just said yes. It was actually kind of easy," Matt said, before reaching to turn the radio up even more.

"Seriously, man? We're like thirty seconds from the school."

"Shut up. 'I Think You Know' is my favorite."

"I thought 'Comatose' was your favorite."

"That was my favorite, like, two weeks ago, dude."

"Okay, you're crazy. I'm officially not talking to you," Mike said as Matt pulled into a parking spot near the gym.

"How am I supposed to pick between one song? Julia Nunes is a genius of epic proportions," Mike just shook his head as the two made their way towards the weight room.

The vow of silence lasted for about twenty seconds; until Mike turned to Matt, and asked, "Want to partner?" even though they'd been partnering up everyday for weights since they'd first started four years ago. Matt just rolls his eyes and goes to get their logbooks.

* * *

Kurt hates alarm clocks, with a passion that most people reserve for telemarketers or the New York Yankees (and yes, Kurt does understand most sports, he just doesn't like them that much). But his dad expects him in the shop ready to go by 9:15, so if he wants to properly moisturize _and_ eat breakfast, he has to get going now.

He spends about fifteen minutes in front of the mirror, but doesn't bother fixing his hair, as five minutes in the garage will destroy all that work anyway. His dad has already headed down to the shop, but he left the Cheerios, milk and coffee on the table. Kurt makes himself a bowl of cereal, but opts for grabbing the orange juice out of the fridge over his usual coffee. Coffee will only make him ever so slightly jittery, but ever so slightly usually wasn't good for pulling apart cars.

Once he's finished his third bowl of cereal, he washes the bowl in the sink, because Carole and Finn are both still asleep, and he doesn't want the milk caking to the bowl too badly. As he passes the door to the basement, he can faintly hear Finn's snores. _Like a chainsaw_, he thinks, shaking his head at how quickly he's gotten used to the noise at night.

"Morning, Dad," he said as he came through the door to the shop, and his dad peeked over the hood of the Ford he was working on to acknowledge him.

"Morning, sport. You still tearing apart that Chevy?" he asked and Kurt rolled his eyes at the nickname before he nodded and headed over to the broken down red truck he'd been ripping up for spare parts for the past week and a half.

They worked for almost an hour, with occasional conversation breaking up the classic rock station his dad had won the right to put on by being the first in the garage. Kurt whined about it for a while just to be a pain, though the station didn't really bother him that much. He was just starting to work on the truck's cooling system when he realized that he hadn't told his dad that he'd be unable to help in the garage in a few weeks because of football camp. Kurt hadn't even told his dad he planned on playing next year.

"Dad? I have something I need to talk to you about," he said, climbing out of the cab of the truck as his dad looked up from the paper he'd been reading while he took his donut break. His dad raised his eyebrows, and Kurt realized that he'd spoken just as his dad had taken a bite of his donut.

"Well, uh, you know how Matt was over here yesterday? Well, he asked me if I would maybe consider playing football next year," he said, but didn't mention that Matt had asked for a two-year commitment. Kurt didn't really want to give his dad a heart attack from happiness.

"And so I'm not going to be able to help around the garage in a couple weeks, cause there's apparently some kind of camp we have to attend," he said, the last words slightly muffled as his dad pulled him into a tight hug.

"You're playing football next year?" he said, the happiness evident in his voice before he moved Kurt out to arm's length and bent down slightly to look him in the eyes, "You're sure you want to do this? You know you don't have to, just because you're friends or I want you to."  
Kurt nodded, "Yeah, dad, it's what I want. I wouldn't have thought about doing it just by myself, but Matt, he pointed out all the reasons I should do it. And he was right. I like kicking, dad, and I like how much you love it, and I've got friends on that team. And if I can help them out, then I should."

His dad hugged him again. "Dad, my lungs. I can't breath. No oxygen. Face turning blue. Dying," Kurt said, and his dad still didn't let him go for five more seconds.

"This weekend, we'll go out and get you some new cleats, some good Nikes. You just used the school's last year right?" Kurt nodded, "Well, if you plan on really giving this a go, you should have the proper stuff. You need anything else?" he asked, but Kurt shook his head.

"I'm so proud of you, kid. Your mom would be proud of you, too. Have you told Finn yet?"

"No, I went to bed before he got back last night, and he's still snoring away downstairs. Dad, I think we should take him to a doctor. It's so bad."

"What's so bad? Who are we taking to the doctor? Is Kurt sick?" asked Finn, appearing in the doorway, still with horrible bed head and in his pajamas.

"No. But I have a question for you, Finn? Did someone stuff an acorn up your nose as a child, and leave it there? Because you snore like a bear. How am I supposed to stay rested during football season with you making that much noise?"

"It's not that bad!" said Finn, before he tilted his head to think about what Kurt had just said, "Why would you need rest during football season?"

Kurt raised his eyebrows, "Just because the kicker isn't out there every play, doesn't mean that we don't need our rest." Finn seemed to think about that for just a second, then got that huge grin that he had when he was both surprised and happy about something.

"You're playing football next year! All right!" he said, and jumped off the stairs down to the garage floor before he swept Kurt up into another bone-crushing hug.

"Oh, dear God, if another person hugs me like this, I'm quitting before camp even happens," Kurt said, trying to wiggle in such a way that his lungs could actually get air, "Why didn't you go to weights this morning anyway?"

Finn put him down and shrugged, "Didn't feel like it. Too tired. I'll go tonight. I'm going to have breakfast now. Did you leave some for the rest of us, Kurt?" Kurt just rolled his eyes at his almost stepbrother before going back over to the Chevy. Despite the fact that it was barely 10:30, it was already stifling in the garage, and Kurt took the top part of his coveralls off his shoulders and kept it hanging around his waist by knotting the sleeves together behind his back.

It was going to be a long day. Hanging out with friends would definitely be required at the end of it.

* * *

"I'm not saying she's not a great song writer, or a awesome singer, but how can you listen to her all the time?" Mike said, and Matt looked over at him in annoyance.

"Are you seriously still talking about this? And I don't listen to her all the time. I listen to other stuff too. It's just that Nunes is the bomb, and her new EP just came out, and I like listening to her. If you would be able to keep your car keys someplace you could find them, then you could drive yourself around, and listen to whatever you wanted. But until then, please kindly shut your piehole, Mr. Chang."

They pulled up to Kurt's house without much further incident, until Mike tried to get out, and found that the door wouldn't open.

"Oh, heck, dude, your door is broken again. Why do you have such a sucky car?" he said, fiddling with the handle.

"Don't be saying things like that about my baby," said Matt, running his hand lovingly over the Dart's dashboard, "She's like the car equivalent of my grandma. Now please ignore that analogy as I tell you to just kick the door really hard. You should know how to do this by now, since you like, live in my car. But if you break my baby, you will be walking home, and then, I will end your life."

"Dude, I would not live in this car for a bizillion dollars. I don't understand why you don't just let your parents buy you the sick mad car they've been promising since you got back from that football camp you went to. Seriously, I can smell the dinosaur pee in this thing," Mike said, as he delivered a powerful kick to the door and Matt pulled from the outside.

The moment Mike pulled himself out of the car, Matt grabbed and tackled him, and the two of them have a semi-serious wrestling match on the lawn until they hear Kurt's voice call out from the porch, "Oh, really, guys? On my lawn? Could you two act anymore like toddlers?" As soon as he said that, Mike pushed Matt off him and sat up sucking his thumb, and Matt whipped his jacket off his shoulders and curled up with it like a blanket.

"You two have serious problems," Kurt said, making his way off the porch to meet the other two boys. He stopped when he saw the imprint of the Mike's shoe and loose handle of Matt's passenger door. "Oh, Mary Mother of God, Matthew Rutherford, if you absolutely refuse to replace this ancient piece of crap car, would you at least bring it in tomorrow so that Mike doesn't have to go all Kung-Fu Fighting on the door every time he forgets his keys at my house," said Kurt, holding up Mike's keys, the dorky disco ball key chain making it impossible to mistake them for anyone else's.

"Mike, I gave you a ride here yesterday because you couldn't find your keys. How'd they end up here?" Matt asked, and Mike just shrugged, but Kurt seemed to anticipate his next words.

"You left them here yesterday, not three days ago. You gave them to Brittany for a while because she likes the way the disco ball makes the pretty lights. I'm pretty sure you pulled them out of your pocket, Other Asian."

"Dude, what the hell? You had your keys in your pocket the whole time and you could not find them? I swear, if you weren't my best friend, I would have killed you a long time ago," said Matt, shoving Mike in a friendly way.

"First off, you know how bad I am with those things. Second off," he says, turning to Kurt, "Tina is totally the "Other Asian."

"What did you say about me, Mike?" said Tina, pushing Artie up the street towards Kurt's house.

"That you're amazing and talented and pretty, Tina dear." Mike replied, giving a show smile that would have made Jesse St. James proud.

"Chang, are you putting the moves on my girlfriend?" asked Artie, holding up mock fists.

"Artie, I wouldn't dare. You're much too physically intimidating for me to try anything with this gorgeous young lady. Ooops, did I say that out loud?"

"Speaking of intimidating, your outfit is intimidatingly awful. Seriously, Artie, did you get dressed in the dark?" asked Kurt, but Tina slapped him softly on the shoulder.

"Play nice, boys. Plus, I think Artie looks adorable," she said, kissing Artie on the top of his head. Matt brought his hand up to his cheek and groaned. The others gave him a funny look.

"I think I actually got a cavity from all that sweetness," he said, imitating Mike's show smile as they made their way up to Kurt's house.

"What are we watching anyway?" asked Matt as he, Mike and Kurt lifted Artie up the stairs.

"_Footloose_, then I promised Finn he could pick something," replied Kurt as they followed him towards the basement staircase. They were silent as they maneuvered Artie down the stairs, cause that was damn hard work.

"Again, man? We just watched that last night," said Matt. It wasn't that _Footloose_ was a bad movie; he just liked a little variety.

"Finn, Artie, Tina and Santana weren't here, and Quinn had to leave halfway through, so we figured it was only fair."

"Plus, you're just sore that they think I can dance better than Kevin Bacon, but you can't," said Mike, showing off a few of his moves.

"You guys are totally wrong about that. Maybe I couldn't keep up with him in his prime, but ownage would take place today. Dude is, like, super ancient. He's so old it's almost a superpower."

"Matt, he's like 52."

"Like I said, old."

"Yeah, almost as old as your car," said Mike, and Matt glared at him.

"I wasn't going to do it, but your recent actions have forced my hand," said Matt, and turned towards Quinn. Mike realized what he was doing a second too late.

"Quinn, Mike was insulting Julia Nunes all day. He apparently has a problem with me playing her music in the car all the time. Thoughts?" he said, and Quinn whirled around with a mock gasp.

"Michael Chang, haven't I warned you that mocking Julia would lead to me killing you and leaving your body somewhere that no one would find it, ever?" she said, and Mike nodded sheepishly as he sat on the floor in front of her, "All right, well, I better not hear any more reports of this behavior. I wouldn't want to have to kill my second favorite dancer." Mike made a motion like he'd been shot through the heart and the rest of the room rolled their eyes as Kurt started the movie.

Despite the fact that Mike and Matt insisted on stopping the movie several times to show that they could indeed out-dance Kevin Bacon (Kurt drew the line at reenacting the punch dancing in the warehouse), nobody was ready to go home, so Kurt rolled his eyes and opened the DVD cabinet for Finn to peruse.

"I still don't understand how you have all the seasons of Frasier, but no Will and Grace," said Finn as he ran his fingers over the titles. The room gave him weird looks, "What? My mom got me hooked on them!"

"Because Frasier is a show worthy of owning on DVD, while Will and Grace is a good show to catch on reruns, but not worth the shelf space. I think everyone here would agree with me," Kurt said, turning to the rest of them for conformation.

"Never seen Frasier," said Matt, and Tina and Santana nodded their agreement. Matt kind of wanted a picture of Kurt's horror struck face.

"First season marathon, now," he said, and Finn groaned.

"Again?"

"You watched four episodes a month ago, Finn. And besides, you like Frasier."

"Still wish it was Will and Grace," muttered Finn, sullenly returning to his seat.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

"Good, because I would hate to have to post that as my Facebook status," said Kurt, and Artie looked up from his phone guiltily.

"Wait, we weren't supposed to post that on Facebook?"

Matt and Mike barely restrained Finn as he lunged toward Artie and Kurt.

"Sit down and enjoy the show, Hudson. Don't make me hurt you," Kurt said, and Finn shook his head at his friends.

"My revenge for this will be slow and painful," said Finn, but Kurt just rolled his eyes.

"Try it, Finn. I will shave off your eyebrows while you sleep if you do anything."

"Will you two shut up so I can watch the show?" asked Mercedes, and Kurt and Finn looked properly chastised.

Matt rolled his eyes and leaned back against the couch. He was going to play professional football someday, but right now, Lima wasn't a bad place to spend some time.

**Pointless chapter is pointless. This chapter is really just for establishing Matt and Mike's voices and friendship, and also the camaraderie between the Glee kids, and Kurt and Finn's relationship as brothers, and Kurt telling his dad that he's playing. So it wasn't totally pointless, but it wasn't really that important plot wise. I promise it will get better in that aspect. As to Matt and Quinn's love of Julia Nunes, I just get kind of a singer/songwriter vibe from Quinn, and I get that vibe from Matt to, in that he'd like a lot of different kinds of music, but that he'd love some JuNu. Because I love Julia Nunes, and I think Matt would love her too. Also, Matt drives a '76 Dodge Dart because Toby Ziegler from The West Wing drives a Dodge Dart.**

**Also, you know how I said that I wouldn't have OCs in the first author's note? I was sort of lying. I won't be adding characters to the Glee Club, but I will need to create some teammates for the guys, otherwise this fic would be kind of boring. So I'll be giving some personalities to some football players, but I promise they won't just run off and join Glee all the time.**

**Next chapter: Kurt fixes Matt's car door, Matt explains his five-step plan to Kurt, Kurt has to tell Sue he needs a 3 month hiatus from Cheerios and somehow convince her that it's beneficial to the group, more Glee bonding, and the event you've all been waiting for, the first day of football camp.**


	3. Chapter 3

**When I describe that dorky grin that Finn gets on his face? You all know what I'm talking about right? The one he gets that makes you just want to shake your head and call him a dork. And that's pretty much it for this A/N. Don't worry, I can feel your surprise through the Internet that this doesn't take up an entire half a page.**

Finn walked into weights at 6:32 the next morning, and Puck couldn't resist the joke, "Get lost on the way again, Finn?"

Finn rolled his eyes at his friend, "I would have been on time, but I was trying to convince Kurt to come." Matt, Mike and Puck all laughed.

"Did he cuss at you? Or just fall back asleep because he thought you might have hit your head and gone crazy?" asked Matt, leaning on Mike for support as he was laughing so hard.

Finn got a dorky grin on his face, "Oh, no, he's coming. He's just parking the-" but his explanation was cut off by the arrival of Kurt himself, wearing long red shorts, a white t-shirt and an irritated expression.

"Finn Hudson, if you ever do something like that again, just to get me to come to one of these idiotic things, I will reenact that scene in _Reservoir Dogs_ when they cut off that cop's ear."

Matt raised his eyebrows, "What did you do?"

Finn grinned sheepishly, "I waited until he fell asleep, and then set his alarm clock to go off at 5:45 instead of 8:30." The other three looked at him like he'd just told them he'd poked a lion in the eye while it was sleeping.

"You messed with Hummel's alarm clock? And you're still breathing?" said Puck, and Kurt gave an annoyed huff.

"And then he insisted on bugging me until I agreed to come to this thing," said Kurt, "He is quite annoying when he tries to be."

"So he's trying most of the time?" said Mike, and Finn reached out to slap him on the back of the head.

"Hey, I'm gonna show Kurt how to do the lifts and stuff, so if Coach shows up, can you guys let him know?" asked Finn.

"Dude, Coach has been here like, three times this whole summer," said Puck, not looking happy about that situation.

"Well, if he does show up, let him know," said Finn before throwing an arm around Kurt's neck and pulling him off. Kurt stopped him for a moment to turn back to Matt.

"After this torture is over, why don't you bring your car in so I can look at that door?" he said, and Matt gave him the thumbs up before Finn hauled him off towards the squat racks.

Puck headed off to go lift, and Matt and Mike headed towards the benches. Jack Rease is already using one, busy loading another 45 pound weight on to one side of the bar. Jack's a sophomore, 5 feet, 7 inches of pure muscle and anger. He'd played fullback on the freshmen team last year, and even now, Matt could feel the raw anger and energy pulsing off the smaller boy, who was built like a gymnast, all arms, and legs, and chest, with hardly any waist to speak of.

"Hey, Jack," said Mike, and Jack flashed them a tight smile before going back to his weights.

"So, after Kurt fixes your car, want to go see Toy Story 3 again? I hear it's just as awesome the fifth time."

"You already know my answer to that question. But you're buying the popcorn this time."

* * *

Kurt signaled for Matt to pull the car into the space in front of the old truck he's been pulling apart, and grimaced as Matt kicked the passenger door open for him to look at.

"I really don't understand why you keep this car around, Matt. Haven't your parents offered to get you a new one?" said Kurt as he tested the flimsy handle.

"You don't just get rid of your baby because the door doesn't work. As long as the engine and the radio are running, no car can beat Old Glo," said Matt, running his hand over the hood of the car lovingly.

"I can take care of both of those," said Kurt in a stage whisper, and Matt held up a fist threateningly.

"Just fix my door, Hummel, and I won't have to hurt you," he said as Kurt opened the toolbox by his feet to get the things he needed to fix the door.

As Kurt tinkered with the door handle, he looked up at Matt, "So what are the next four steps of your plan?"

"What?" said Matt, looking up from watching Kurt work; he was sure that Kurt would do something to his car if he didn't keep a close eye on him. "The other four steps to your plan? You said you had a five-step plan for something, and that getting me to play was the first step. What's the plan for, and what are the next four steps?"

"Um, well," said Matt, nervous about telling this secret to Kurt. He hadn't even told his parents that he wanted to be a professional football player. The only person that knew about the plan was Mike. But he figured that since he pretty much owed Kurt for life, the guy at least deserved to know why.

"I want to play pro football. Real pro football, in the NFL, not in some arena league or something like that. That's what the plan is for. I need you to play because Step Two is winning half our games this year, and Step Three is winning a state championship next year. Step Four is college, and Step Five is the NFL. Five easy steps to success in football and life. Believe it or not, I thought convincing you was going to be the hardest step."

Kurt laughed, "That's possibly one of the craziest and sanest things I've ever heard, rolled into one neat little five-step plan. How long have you had your life laid out in front of you like that?"

"Seven years and three months. I made it at the end of the year our 4th grade year. Of course, you weren't part of the plan back then, and it's gone through other various tweaks, but it's basically been the same. Dreams are important. You have to believe to achieve."

Kurt looked at him funny for a second, "That's pretty good," a quick adjustment on the door handle, "But when did you start talking like Rachel?" Matt would have smacked him if Kurt didn't have the power to total trash his Gloria with his bare hands, and if Matt hadn't been thinking that same thing just days before.

"All right, my turn to ask a question?" Kurt nodded, and Matt prepared to take his revenge for the Rachel comment, "How do you plan to tell Miss Sylvester that you're doing football in addition to Cheerios?" Kurt's face went remarkably pale.

"Oh, shit. I didn't even think about that. She's going to roast me on a spit."

"Have you met Coach Sylvester? She's going to do so much worse if you can't come up with some way that this is good for the team."

Kurt took several calming breaths, "I guess I had better get scheming. I think," he said, wiggling the door handle back into place, "that this should at least allow you to open this door from the inside without calling on your soccer skills."

"Thanks, man. How much do I owe you for the repair?" said Matt, but Kurt shook his head as Matt went to pull his wallet out of his pocket.

"No charge. Consider it my further contribution to the football team by preventing injuries to you and Mike, and who ever else might ride in that dinosaur. What did you call it again?"

"Gloria Alexandra," said Matt, and Kurt just rolled his eyes, "What? A dignified car such as this deserves a dignified name."

"Please just get it out of the garage before a potential costumer comes by and has to inquire whether we can fix their car or if this is a junk yard."

Matt rolled his eyes as he climbed into the car and backed out into the street before he rolled his window down and yelled back at Kurt, "Have fun in your meeting with Sue!" He pulled away, but he could see Kurt's middle finger in the rearview mirror.

* * *

Kurt Hummel was not someone who got nervous easily, but Sue Sylvester scared the hell out of him. And here he was, outside her office at 8:37 AM on a Wednesday three weeks before school started, wearing shorts and a slightly sweaty t-shirt (he wasn't sure if he felt more gross or nervous right now). His hand shook as he knocked on the office door, but he took a deep breath and told himself _you can't let her smell your fear_.

The door jerked open to reveal the cheerleading coach, holding her hand blender and staring down at him, "Ladyface! What are you doing here?"

"I needed to talk to you about something, Coach," said Kurt, forcing himself to look her in the eye.

"Speak if you must. I just made a fresh protein shake, and I'd like to get back to it."  
"Well, I'm playing football this season, so I'll need to take a three month hiatus from the Cheerios," he said, then jumped backward, though he wasn't sure if it was because he knew she would drop the hand blender or because he was actually afraid she would physically assault him. The goop from the bottle seeped in a puddle towards the Pumas he was wearing, but didn't actually touch them.

"Into the office now, Hummel," Kurt scurried into the office with as much dignity as he could muster, and had barely sat down before Sue started speaking again, "People don't take breaks from Cheerios until they're dead. And even then I need two doctors to confirm that they are actually deceased."

"Listen, Coach Sylvester, this is to our advantage," Kurt said, recalling the speech he'd practiced six times in front of his mirror last night and three more times this morning, "The Cheerios are strong, the best team in the state and the region by a million miles. We'll win those competitions easily without me. And my absence will lure the opponents at Nationals into a false sense of security. 'Oh, look; they lost that little gay vocalist from last year. They're vulnerable'. And that's when I will make my triumphant return, and it will make tearing out their hearts and stomping on them at the competition that much more satisfying, because those hearts will be broken," he finished, and started praying.

Coach considered him for a moment, and then spoke with a smile, "Ladyface, that is a brilliant plan. I knew I made a good choice in getting you on this squad. You've got that winner quality in you that reminds me of a young me. Though you don't have my hips."

Kurt wasn't sure what to think, but Coach wasn't done, "You have your three months. But I won't stand to have a loser on my squad. This football team had better win. Now get out of my office, as I'm tired of looking at your face instead of my trophies."

Kurt didn't think he'd ever moved faster.

* * *

_Mercedes: OMG, get over to Finn and Kurt's house rite now!_

_ Matt: Y? im 2 min away_

_ Mercedes: u wouldnt believe me if i told you_

_ Matt: try me_

_ Mercedes: Kurt and Finn r having a Frasier/Will&Grace quote-off_

_ Matt: i dont believe you_

_ Mercedes: told you. hurry!_

_ Matt: pulling in right now_

Quickly shutting the car off and running up the front steps of the Hummel/Hudson residence, Matt made it to the basement in record time.

"What did I miss?" he asked as he collapsed down next to Mike. Finn and Kurt were standing at opposite ends of the space between the couch and the television, and both appeared to be actually stretching out in preparation.

"Kurt quoted Frasier, Finn called him on it, Kurt said he was just jealous, and Finn said that he could quote Will and Grace better then Kurt could quote Frasier. That's how we ended up at this moment," said Mike, wordlessly pulling his keys out of his pocket when Brittany poked him in the arm.

"It should be quite entertaining," said Rachel, "From what I understand, both of them are quite skilled in their fields of expertise.

Artie had wheeled himself into the space between the two other boys and made a motion for quiet as he began to speak, "Welcome to the first-ever Glee quote-off, between Finn Hudson"-a cheer from Rachel-" and Kurt Hummel. Finn will be quoting Will and Grace, while Kurt will quote Frasier. By virtue of a coin flip, Kurt has elected to go second. Finn will say a quote, and Kurt will say a quote back. The winner will be decided when one of them is unable to provide a quote. Let the battle begin!" he said, then wheeled himself out of the way back to his spot by Tina.

"Today, I'm handing out lollipops and ass-whoopins and right now, I'm out of lollipops," said Finn, and raised his eyebrows at Kurt.

Kurt just rolled his eyes before responding, "The minute that door closed I started praying something bad would happen to your plane."  
"If you're here for inspiration, you're too late. If you're here for the funeral, you're too early."

"I'm not chicken. I'm just really hesitant."

"I love you like the mother I had committed against her will."

"You'll see who feels foolish when I'm sitting on a mechanical bull sipping champagne."

"Fact: Before language, people communicated through intricate choreography, costume changes, and lighting. Language was only invented when unattractive people were born and needed to be commented on."

"I dreamt someone kidnapped my baby and they kept sending me muffins in the mail."

The rest of the room watched in astonishment as the two stepbrothers exchanged quotes at a rapid fire pace, barely pausing to breathe. They ooohed appropriately every time one of the guys thought of a particularly good one. But as they reached what must have been the 30th round, Finn faltered for just a second before he answered. Kurt smelled blood.

"I had no idea how much I liked fishing until I realized all the shopping involved," said Kurt, raising an eyebrow and daring Finn to respond.

Finn thought for just a moment before he gave up, "Dammit! I didn't think there was any way you could hold out that long."

"The fact that he's a giant purple hippopotamus probably should have tipped you off," quoted Kurt, and pumped his fist in victory, "Never underestimate me when it comes to Frasier. Now, what episode were we on?" asked Kurt, having won the right to pick what they were watching.

"We just watched the one where Frasier almost gets in the fist fight with that guy," said Tina, and Kurt retrieved the appropriate DVD.

"All right, important question time," said Artie as Kurt moved to the DVD player to start the show, "Sexiest bass line ever?"

"Need You Tonight, INXS," said Puck, "That bass line _is_ sex."

"There's no way you can talk about Need You Tonight without Another One Bites The Dust. The bass lines are like the same," said Artie, and then looked at Rachel apologetically.

But Rachel just jumped right in to the conversation, "In talking about bass lines, there's no way you can discredit Queen and Bowie's excellent collaboration Under Pressure."

Matt shook his head, "That bass line lost all sexiness when Vanilla Ice stole it. And the bass in Need You Tonight is sexier because the song itself is sexier. He doesn't need someone tonight to go to the movies or grab a coffee with," he said, and Mike wiggled his eyebrows in a suggestive manner.

"Why do y'all insist on talking the instant we start watching Frasier? I want to watch the show," said Mercedes, her head resting on Kurt's shoulder. The rest of the room quieted, "Thank you."

Matt poked Kurt in the arm, glad to be sitting on the opposite side of Mercedes, "So what did Coach Sylvester say?"

Kurt gave him a relieved look, "I convinced her that we would be able to use my absence as a secret weapon, that we would lure the opposition into a false sense of security and then crush them like the ants they are. Ow," he said, as Mercedes punched him in the side.

"Shut up, white boy."

"I've seen this episode like 600 times, 'Cedes. And Matt was talking too."

"Yeah, but I haven't. Plus, I can't reach Matt. Punch him for me, will you?" Kurt punched Matt lightly on the arm.

"Ouch. What happened to bros before hoes?"

"Mercedes scares me. And I like her more."

"That hurts, Hummel. It stings way down in my soul."

"Ow! Why am I getting punched again?"

"You're still flapping your yap!"

"You've seen this episode at least 400 times! I've watched it with you before."

"But I haven't," said Tina from her spot in front of Artie, who was clumsily braiding part of her hair.

"Neither have I," said Santana.

"I've only seen it once," said Puck, and Mike nodded in agreement.

"I didn't watch the early seasons much," he said.

"It is hard to discern the plot with you all babbling away like this," said Rachel, cuddled up against Finn.

"Rachel, it's a sitcom. The plot is fairly unimportant."

"Still, I need to be intellectually involved with things to enjoy them."

"How's the whole dating Finn thing going then?" said Mike, and Quinn hit him good naturedly as Rachel sent death glares his way.

"Fine. Matt and I will shut up, and I'll start the episode over. Is everyone happy?" Kurt said as he hit the back button on the remote and moved his arm around Mercedes's shoulders to pull her closer in apology.

"I still wish it was Will and Grace."

"Finn!"

* * *

Kurt really, really hated alarm clocks, and Finn's was one of the worst, because it took Finn 15 minutes to actually convince himself to get up, so he hit the snooze at least three times. But today, the alarm had barely sounded once before Kurt heard Finn roll out of bed.

"Finn, what's up?" he asked, wondering momentarily if something was on fire. Finn never moved that fast, especially in the morning, a fact that Kurt liked to mock endlessly. Of course, Finn usually came back with a comment about Kurt's near obsessive love of cereal, and that usually lead to some kind of physical fight between the two.

"Football camp!" said Finn excitedly, moving to pull Kurt out of bed, "Come on!"

"Ugh, I forgot about that. Do I really have to go?"

"Yes. And how could you forget? We just talked about it last night. Now come on, get up," Finn said, giving Kurt's arm one gigantic tug to get him out of bed.

"I'm up, I'm up," he said, as Finn rushed towards the bathroom to lay first claim.

Kurt went through his entire moisturizing routine while Finn showered, and when the larger boy came out, complained until Finn made a crack about the six bowls of cereal Kurt would eat. Kurt hit his sort of stepbrother with a pillow as he walked into the bathroom.

When Kurt got upstairs, Finn had already finished his cereal, and bounced around in an only slightly irritating way until Kurt had finished his fourth bowl of cereal, resisting getting himself another because of Finn's earlier joke, and headed out to his car. Finn tried to head to his mom's car, but Kurt gave him a pointed look and he sheepishly turned back to head to the Navigator.

"So how long is this camp today?" asked Kurt as Finn flipped through his iPod for something to listen to.

"From 10 to noon, then 3 to 5," he said, settling on Aerosmith.

"Oh, that's ridiculous. What could we possibly do for that long? All I ever do is stand there and kick field goals anyway."

"That's probably what you'll do the whole camp. So it won't be that bad. You'll have to learn all the special teams plays, and Coach will probably want you to do some punting too, since Garret was a senior last year, and he really wasn't that great anyway. It's only four days," Finn said, playing air drums with the song since Kurt had forbid him from actually doing them on the dashboard.

"Only four days. Famous last words."

"Me and Mike and Matt'll be there, so it won't be that bad. Besides, kicking is a lot better then just running through these mind-numbing drills that we usually do for the first two days. At least you're working on something useful. I'm like, _training_ the freshmen and sophomores."

"Dear God, they actually put you in charge of educating other people? How are we going to get any better?"

"If you weren't driving, I would damage you."

"Finn, what have I told you about using the phrases that Puck tells you are cool?"

"Never in public, and only as a joke in private?"

"Exactly."

Matt always had mixed feelings about football camp. On one hand, he loved football, and it was what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. On the other, football camp meant that school was just over a week away.

Pulling into the parking lot behind the football field, he grabbed his cleats out of the back as Mike pulled his on in the passenger seat. The first day was mostly just basic non-contact drills, teaching the new comers to the varsity the basic structures of the offense, and light conditioning if it wasn't too hot, so no pads were required. Checkout would take place after the evening session today. Guys were filtering towards the field as Matt and Mike made their way over, catching up with Puck as he entered the field.

"You seen Coach yet?" Matt asked, but Puck just shook his head.

"Who knows if he'll even turn up."

Coach Tanaka had only managed to make it to a few of the morning weights sessions, and even when he was there, he hadn't really done anything. He'd just sat in the coach's office and barked at anyone who looked at him the wrong way. He still seemed pretty messed up by the whole Miss Pillsbury thing.

But when the team had gathered at mid-field, Coach was there, sitting sullenly in his golf cart, eyes blood shot, staring at the team. The awkward silence lasted for several minutes, Coach staring angrily and the team looking anywhere but at Coach until Kyle Mutchler, the senior middle linebacker and captain, spoke up.

"Everybody form stretching lines, by grade. Let's get going!"

They silently stretched out, the seven seniors the only ones who talked, and that was only to tell everyone else what was next. When they finished, everyone looked around, the silence making things even more awkward. Eventually, Matt spoke up from his place behind Kyle.

"Why don't you take the defense and I'll take the offense, start teaching the new guys the drills?" he said, and Kyle just nodded, before yelling the instructions to everyone else.

Kurt stood in the middle of the field still, not quite sure what to do, until Matt gestured him over with the offense, "Let me get the guys going in some drills, then I'll help you with punting. I did mention that you'd probably have to punt for us if we were more then 55 yards away from the goalposts, didn't I?" he said, laughing despite the awkwardness of practice so far when Kurt rolled his eyes.

He got the linemen started doing basic footwork drills, and set Finn up tossing to the receivers and backs running basic routes. He was nervous leaving Puck in charge of the receivers, but Puck seemed too pissed off at Coach Tanaka to really worry about anything but getting the freshmen to run things correctly.

They spent two hours like this, and after they came back from the afternoon break, Coach still hadn't moved, but now he's eating a sandwich, with several more wrappers in a little pile next to his golf cart. It was up to Matt and Kyle to once again lead the groups. Kyle ran uniform checkout too, and everyone could tell that this is going to be one interesting year.

Coach didn't even bother showing up the next day, and everyone starts to wonder if interesting even begins to cover it.

**Soooo, not so sure how I feel about the last scene. I needed to establish the fact that Coach Tanaka is not really going to be into this football season, and that Matt is really going to step into a leadership role, but I don't know if I did that. The football angle will become more important after this, I promise. And the plot did move forward a little. Just a warning though, if you like Coach Tanaka, I'd prepare myself. He kind of comes off as a bad guy in this fic. It's not that I don't like him, it's just I needed someone to fill that role, and he fit.**

**Also, that thing that the Glee kids did with the bass line conversation just appearing out of nowhere. Me and my friends, who are mostly band geeks and choir nerds, do that all the time. Any situation, we'll just randomly ask for the best ever _ that has to do with music. We can have hour long conversations based on them, and I always thought it was something that the Glee kids might do.**

**Next chapter, the rest of football camp, the start of school, the first Glee project of the year, flashbacks, and at least one fist fight.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Just a quick note about updates: They're coming pretty fast now, cause I'm experiencing an incredible bout of insomnia, and I'm on my summer break for about another month. So for a while, updates will come at a much quicker pace then they will when I start school again. But I promise I won't abandon this fic without letting you guys know that I'm taking a hiatus!**

**On that note, a huge thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far. Seriously, it makes my day every time I get an email telling me someone reviewed, and it really makes me want to write more chapters faster.**

"This has got to be the weirdest football camp _ever_," said Finn, looking around at his friends as they took a drink break late into the evening session, "Not even just the weirdest one at McKinley either. Like, the weirdest one to ever happen anywhere."

"What makes you say that? The fact that our coach doesn't do anything but sit on the sidelines, when he bothers to show up at all? Or the fact that Matt and Kyle have basically been running the camp?" said Puck, not trying to keep the anger out of his voice.

"Give the dude a break," said Matt, dumping a handful of water over his head, "He's still pretty messed up by that whole thing with Miss Pillsbury."

"That was almost 6 months ago, man. I'm sick of this shit."

"Just keep working. Hopefully he'll snap out of it before the season actually starts. We're 9 practices from Piqua, we can't worry about whether or not Coach is okay."

"That actually sounds like something we should be worried about," said Kurt, sipping from the team fountain they were gathered around.

"There's nothing we can do about it. Come on; let's go work on plays. If Coach if isn't gonna do anything, then we had better."

The group of four headed back over to the rest of the offense, where Kurt split off to go work on his punting, which he was almost starting to get the hang of. It of course helped that he seemed to be almost as much of a natural at this as he was at placekicking. The defense was down at the other end of the field, gathered around Kyle and Mike as they ran them through the playbook.

"All right, 32 Belly Cut, on two," said Finn, and the huddle broke. Matt took his place directly behind Jack, who was behind Finn. Finn started the count, received the snap from Tom, and handed off to Matt, Jack ripping through the line in front of him to block the imaginary defenders.

When they'd had a live scrimmage against the defense before the water break, Matt had learned just how much of an asset Jack was going to be to the offense. The kid threw sick blocks that, even if they weren't always technically sound, knocked just about everyone he faced on their asses. And when he ran, nothing short of an army stopped those legs from pumping, pushing forward. But every time he got hit, he came up ready to fight, and Matt knew he had to do something, or Jack was going to end up suspended before the second half of the first game of the season.

But as they lined up for another play, and Jack smashed through the imaginary defense again, Matt was content to let him run wild for a little while longer. He had to figure out what created all the anger that rolled off him in waves, or they were going to have problems.

* * *

"You better not have brought alcohol, Puckerman, or my dad will kill all of us in a slow, painful way," said Kurt as Puck came down the basement stairs with two 24 packs of something.

"Relax, Hummel, it's pop, Pepsi and Mountain Dew. And no, I don't have diet. Suck it up and drink the real stuff, you pansies," Puck said, setting the two cases next to the couch.

"When you're a fat old man and I'm still fit and trim, you'll wish that you'd heeded my advice to cut out all that processed sugar," said Kurt, pulling a Pepsi out of the box regardless.

"Kurt, have you seen my bod? That's not wasting away anytime soon," said Puck, handing a Mountain Dew to Artie.

Matt shook his head at the exchange as he grabbed his own Pepsi and handed Mike his Mountain Dew. 9 months ago, if you had told anybody here that they would spend their last night of summer break hanging out in Kurt Hummel and Finn Hudson's basement, watching Kurt and Noah Puckerman bantering in a semi-friendly manner, every single person here would have called you crazy. Hell, if anyone had told them 4 months ago that they'd all be able to hang out together without someone crying or punching someone else, they'd have looked at you uncomfortably and changed the subject. But he supposes that things really started to change between the 12 of them right after the whole wheelchair week.

* * *

Matt doesn't know what made him gesture to Mike to stay put as the rest of the club filed out of the room, leaving them sitting in the plastic chairs on the risers and Kurt sitting on the stool over to the side.

"Why'd you miss that note?" Matt asked, and Kurt looked up from his hands in surprise. He knew of course that Matt wasn't mute (he was in a singing club after all) but the two of them had never really spoken. He shrugged.

"Don't know. Guess I just didn't have the range I thought I did."

"Yeah, you do. You missed that on purpose. Do you want us to beat up Rachel? Did she say something?"

"How do you know I missed it on purpose? And, no, please don't beat up Rachel. As pleasant as that would be."

"When you don't talk much, you get pretty good at noticing the things other people don't say. And right before you missed that note, you looked around and then you looked at Mercedes like you wanted to apologize for something."

"Something with my dad. You probably wouldn't understand."

"Try us," said Mike.

"Someone called my dad yesterday and told him his son was a fag. Just in case he couldn't figure that one out for himself. I know how to deal with that stuff, but he doesn't. He's not ready to just start brushing those names off like I am."

"Shit, man," said Mike, and Matt knew he was serious because Mike never cussed unless it was bad.

"What can you do?" said Kurt, shrugging and walking out. Matt and Mike shared a look that said they could do a lot. It only took a little bit of digging to figure out who'd made the phone call. The guys who told them figured they wanted to congratulate the guy on a stellar prank.

"Did you see Davis's face this morning? It looks like he got hit by a car," said Mercedes in Glee the next morning.

"He probably did something to deserve it," said Matt, and when Kurt turned around to look at him, he met his eyes and smiled slightly. Mike winked, which Kurt later told them had been a little creepy.

Two days later, Kurt came up to them after Glee and asked if they wanted to come over for movie night at his house with Mercedes, Tina, Artie and him. They said sure, and the next time they did it, Santana was busy so Brittany was hanging out with Mike, and the time after that, Brittany brought Santana, who came with only a little kicking and screaming. Babygate and Sectionals happened, but the eight of them continued their nights hanging out in Kurt's basement.

They all figured that things would be a lot less fun when Finn moved in and Quinn started coming over, but one night, Quinn fell asleep on Finn's shoulder, and the next day he said hi to her in the halls, and while all was not forgiven and forgotten that easily, suddenly it was up to ten people. Eventually, the first movie night after Regionals, Kurt relented and allowed Finn to bring Rachel along.

And when, one day during one of their group jam sessions at the end of the year (Mr. Schue had stopped giving them weekly assignments, but they still all came to the room to hang out and sing) Finn gave Puck a high five at the end of "Hot Mess", the little group was complete, though again, not everything was forgiven, but nobody worries about whether an actual fist fight will break out anymore.

* * *

"Dude, you okay?" asked Puck, hitting Matt on the arm, "You zoned out. You okay with watching _Meatballs_?"

"Oh, hell yes! We are the CITs, so pity-," he began, but Kurt cut him off.

"Not until the end of the movie, Rutherford. Otherwise, you will get it stuck in Finn's head and he will be humming it throughout the rest of the movie, and I won't be able to enjoy myself."

"I don't do that!" said Finn indignantly.

"Finn, honey, we heard the opening lick of Sweet Home Alabama just before we went into the movie theater and you hummed it the entire movie," said Rachel, patting him affectionately on the arm.

"You can't make me talk! But I'd love to see you try?" said Mike, and Tina whacked him on the arm.

"You can't quote the movie! Artie and I haven't been to see it yet!" she said, and Artie smiled nervously.

"I actually went to see it with Mike and Matt when they went for the sixth time."

"Betrayal! Wait, you two have been to see it six times?"

"It's a good movie! Plus, Matt's the one who cried."

"I didn't cry… much. The ending is very emotional!"

"This conversation is surreal. Aren't we all about to be juniors in high school?"

"_Toy Story_ has no age limit."

"Why do you people insist on running your mouths the instant somebody presses play?" said Mercedes.

"I can't believe how much you all like those movies still."

"Kurt, don't think I haven't seen your collection of Disney movies. You own the first two."

"Wait, we have the first two _Toy Story _movies on the premises and we're watching _Meatballs_? Blasphemy!"

"Contrary to what you may believe, _Toy Story_ is not a religion."

"I didn't mean it literally, Rachel!"

"We'll watch those next. Now will you all shut up? I'm sitting closest to Mercedes, which means I'll be the one who gets hit," said Kurt, and Mercedes punched him in the arm to emphasis his point. "And if I'm getting hit, I will make the next several hours very painful for all of you."

The rest of them fell quiet, having seen the wrath of Kurt and Mercedes in action.

* * *

"All right, guys! Welcome back!" said Mr. Schuester, and Matt winced slightly. It was only the third period of the entire year, and while Mr. Schue was generally a good guy, his enthusiasm was sometimes pretty grating, and Matt was really too tired for his own good.

"Now, I'm sure you're all ready to get going, but I've got some stuff that I want to talk about for this coming year. I know that you're all talented performers, and that you've all got different strengths, and yes, different weaknesses. So every week, in addition to the weekly assignment, I'm giving anyone who wants it a chance to come up her and do a piece," Rachel's hand shot up, "And that's not just Rachel. Anyone, whether it's a solo or a small group, has a chance. I know that last year, it felt like people were just handed solos, but this year, I want you all to feel that you've been given a chance. I'm not saying you'll necessarily get the part, but I want to give you all a chance.

"Now, on to this week's assignment. Finn, Puck, Artie, and Kurt, could you come up here? Now, these four guys, they've taken their musical gifts beyond just their voices. Finn is a drummer, Puck and Artie are guitarists, and Kurt's a pianist."

"I didn't know peeing was a musical gift," said Brittany, and Santana just shook her head and used one arm to hug the blond girl.

"It means he plays the piano, Brittany, and this week, and this year, we're going to try and utilize these talents more. The rest of you are going to draw from the hat," Mr. Schue shook the hat he had on the piano and was met with various groans, "and then pair up with the other person who draws the same musician as you. Your musician can sing with you, but they should be playing their instrument most of the song. You'll present your songs on Friday. Who's first?"

Rachel bounced up first, "Artie," she said, and Mercedes followed her up, "Finn."

Tina pulled Artie as well, while Santana and Brittany got Puck. Matt pulled Kurt and Quinn pulled Finn, leaving Mike with Kurt.

"Okay," said Schue, clapping his hands together, "Get going, and I'm eagerly waiting to see what you guys come up with on Friday."

Kurt approached the other two boys, "You guys want to come over to my house after practice, figure something out?" he asked, and the other two nodded, "Cool, see you then!" he said, jogging to catch up with Mercedes and Quinn.

* * *

"I can't believe you lost your keys again. If we stapled them to your forehead, do you think girls would still go out with you?"

"With my natural good looks, super smooth dance moves and irresistible charm? You could staple road kill to this face and girls would still be all up on this."

"We might try that. You can pick the CD today," Matt said, and Mike pumped his fist and dug through the collection of CDs in the glove box and scattered around his feet.

"Which one, the keys or the road kill?" Mike asked as he found a CD and popped it into the car's CD player.

"Both. Nice choice," said Matt as the opening piano and harmonica of Thunder Road filled the car. They sat in silence, listening to the music, before they turned at the same time.

"You think there's any way Kurt-"

"Dude, don't you think this would be-"

They laughed, and Matt spoke first, "You think there's any way that Kurt knows the Boss?"

"Well, he doesn't seem like the kind of guy who'd be a big Springsteen fan, but you never know with him, right? He is on the football team, and a pretty good auto mechanic."

"His dad would probably be a fan, right? He's a big Mellencamp dude. Maybe he's played it around the garage enough that Kurt has the entire piano part to Thunder Road memorized?"

"Only one way to find out," said Mike, wiggling his eyebrows in that peculiar way he had as they pulled into Kurt's driveway.

"Hey, Kurt," Matt said as they came into the house to find Kurt in the kitchen, grabbing one of the few pops remaining from last night's marathon.

"Hey, guys. You thought of any ideas yet?" he asked as they retrieved their own pops and followed him into the living room. He took a seat on the piano bench while Matt and Mike sat on the couch.

"Well, if you know the piano part to Thunder Road by Bruce Springsteen, then yeah. Otherwise, nope," said Matt, cracking his Pepsi open and taking a long drink. He nearly spit it out all over the coffee table when he heard the unmistakable beginning of the song, played softly and hesitantly.

"Is it something like that?" Kurt asked, and the other two stared at him, "You'd be surprised how much music I know for the piano. Come on," he said, and moved towards the basement. Matt and Mike followed him, shrugging at each other as to what Kurt could have to show them.

He stopped in front of a closet next to his bed that everyone had always assumed was full of clothes before he turned to them, "If you tell anyone, and by anyone I mean Rachel, about the existence of the contents of this closet, I will first have to murder Rachel, to keep her from annoying me to death, then I will have to kill Finn, because he'll be mad at me for killing his girlfriend, and then I will kill you two. But not before framing you for their murders, and finding an extremely painful and slow acting poison with which to kill you in prison with. Understood?"

Matt and Mike exchanged a look before Matt asked, "Kurt, you don't have, like, a body in there, do you?"

Kurt rolled his eyes, "No, but if Rachel ever finds out about this, I'm certainly going to wish it was a body instead," he said, before opening the closet to reveal four giant plastic tubs, "I gave up trying to organize it totally a while ago, but you should find what you're looking for in the right one on the bottom."

Matt pried the lid of the tub that Kurt indicated and his eyes grew wide at what he saw. Mike's jaw dropped what could only be called an extraordinary distance at the sight of a truly amazing amount of sheet music. It was almost full to the top with three stacks of music, with random pieces sitting loose around the sides. And this was only one box.

"Wow," said Matt, and Kurt shrugged.

"You guys didn't think that I spent all my money on clothes did you? I've been working in the garage since I was six, and doing solo work for the past four years. And I've been playing the piano since I was five. I got my first book of sheet music for Christmas that year, and have been buying it ever since. There's a great shop over in Cridersville, and there's always the Internet."

"Kurt, this is like, ridic amazing," said Mike, already thumbing through the music.

"This is all piano music?" Matt asked as he started in on another stack.

"Most of it. Some of them are vocal scores too, and if you look hard enough, there's some full scores, though those are so expensive that the selection here is pretty limited," said Kurt, retrieving a magazine off his bed to browse while the guys looked over the collection.

"Here it is!" Matt said, holding up the book in triumph, "I can't believe you have Springsteen, but then again, looking at this collection, is there anything that you don't have?"

"Not much, but next time I go to Cridersville, you guys can come with. Now, come on," he said, grabbing the book from Matt, "Springsteen's not exactly my usual style, but nobody can argue with the amazing layering of music in his songs, especially on Born to Run. And that voice singing those words? Would make anybody into an American teenager itching to get out."

"Dude, did someone give you a brain transplant while we were driving over here?" asked Matt, and Kurt hit him with the sheet music.

"Just shut up and sing."

* * *

Mercedes and Quinn opened Friday with an awesome version of 'One Of Us' with Finn joining in on the chorus, and then Brittany and Santana rocked 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' and while Puck didn't actually sing, he did get into the music. Tina, Rachel and Artie did an amazing version of 'World' by Five For Fighting, and then the nine who'd already preformed settled down to see what Matt, Mike and Kurt had come up with.

Kurt was the first one on to the stage, and his outfit was enough to raise a few eyebrows. It wasn't butch Kurt all over again, but it was certainly not what they were used to from the countertenor. He was wearing loose fitting, faded blue jeans, held up around his waist with a thin black belt and paired with a tight white t-shirt that he'd tucked into the jeans. He had an unbuttoned black vest on over the shirt and had topped the whole ensemble off with a black fedora. When he began to play the piano entry accompanied by the harmonica, the eyebrows raised even higher.

"_Screen door slams, Mary's dress waves. Like a vision she dances across the porch as the radio plays. Roy Orbison's singing for the lonely, hey, that's me and I want you only. Don't run back inside, darling, you know just what I'm here for_," sang Mike as he entered the stage from the left.

"_So you're scared and you're thinking that maybe we're ain't that young any more. Show a little faith, there's magic in the night. You ain't a beauty but hey, you're all right. And that's all right with me_," followed Matt, coming from the other side of the stage.

Both were wearing blue jeans, Converse, and white t-shirts, and Mike had even taken the time to convert one of his brother's _Juicy Juice_ boxes to look like he'd rolled a pack of cigarettes into his sleeve.

"_You can hide in your covers and study your pain, draw crosses on your lovers, throw roses in the rain_."

"_Waste your summer praying in vain, for a savior to rise from these streets."_

"_Well, I'm no hero that's understood, only redemption I can offer, girl, is beneath this dirty hood._"

"_With a chance to make it real somehow._"

"_What else can we do now_?"

Mike joined Matt for the next part, "_Except roll down the windows and let the wind blow back your hair. Well, the night's bustin' open, these two lanes will take us anywhere. We got one last chance to make real, to trade in these wings on some wheels Oh-oh, thunder road, oh, thunder road, sit tight, take hold, oh thunder road_!"

Mike dropped out, "_And in the lonely cool before dawn_."

Matt dropped out and Mike took his place, "_You hear their engines roaring on, but when you get to the porch, they're gone, on the wind_."

Matt came back in, "_So Mary climb in_."

And Kurt finished out the song, singing for the first time in the performance, "_It's town full of losers, I'm pulling out here to win_."

Then the piano took off with the rest of the band, and Matt and Mike got to show off their moves, the rest of the club and Mr. Schue standing up to cheer.

"Wow, guys, that was _awesome_!" said Schue, still clapping as he moved toward the stage, "Kurt, that piano was amazing, and we'll definitely have to utilize that, and Matt and Mike, way to rock the vocals. I'd have never thought of having you guys do the Boss, but you two totally have it down."

"Years of singing along in the car will do that," said Mike, and Matt gave him a high-five.

"Well, excellent job, everybody! Way to really embrace the assignment. I'll see you next week," he said as the bell rang, and the club filtered out of the auditorium.

* * *

It had been almost unbearably hot all practice, and everyone was on edge. Coach hadn't shown up for the second time that week, so Matt and Kyle had divided the team up again and were going over plays.

"Weak Fullback Counter, left, on 2," Finn said, and the offense broke apart the huddle and lined up. They were four and a half practices from Piqua, and Matt thought that maybe they had a chance. They could at least run most of the plays without someone tripping over their own feet by this point.

And then there was Jack, who was still angry and untamed, but could run like a bull. But he'd nearly gotten in four fights today alone, and it wouldn't matter how well he could run if he's suspended every other game for hitting some opponent who was just doing what he's supposed to do. Matt needed a plan, and as he saw another scuffle break out between Jack and Riley, he thought of something.

"Rease! What the hell, man?" he said, as he pulled the other two boys apart and shoved Jack into the backfield, "Seriously, he's doing his job, cool your damn jets."

"Whatever, Matt," Jack said before he tried to make his way back to the rest of the team, but Matt shoved him back again.

"It's not whatever, man, this is serious. If you can't control yourself, you can't play. It's that simple," said Matt, and when Jack did just what he expected and tried to return to the others, he reached up and smacked him hard on the M of his helmet.

"What the hell!" said Jack, but Matt shoved him again and Jack launched himself at him. They scuffled for a few moments before their teammates pulled them apart.

"Who are you mad at?" Matt asked, shrugging off Mike's hold on his arm to get closer to Jack.

"You, you asshole! Who do you think?" he said, and Matt shook his head.

"You're angry all the time, man, not just now. Who are you angry with? What makes you want to fight every time you get tackled? 'Cause, dude, you have some serious talent for running the football, but if you're suspended for fighting all the time, it doesn't do us any good."

Jack sighed and refused to meet Matt's eyes when he spoke, "You know those movies with the old time good old boys from the south who are prejudiced against anyone or anything that's different from them? My dad makes those guys look like Martin Luther King, Jr. You should hear the things he says about you because you're black, or Mike because he's Asian, or Puck, or Finn because he's dating Rachel, or Kurt. And I can't do anything about it, because my mom died three years ago and I've gotta look out for my little sister."

Matt was a little surprised at the torrent of words that rolled out of the younger boy, but he just nodded, "I get it. That being angry is this fuel that makes running easier, that this is the only place you can push all that out and do something productive is out here. I get that, because I do it too. Nothing solves a bad day, or a messy break-up, or a fight with your parents, or hell, a bad month, like just pounding away out here, but it's gotta be equal parts embracing the anger and embracing the freedom, man.

"You have to pull all that anger inside of you, and instead of hitting back, use it to keep pushing forward, and just remember that for every defender, there's 10 whole yards of open space, of freedom, where it doesn't matter who you are, or what the world's like, only that you find it and run like hell. So, don't let go of that anger, okay? Just, use it a little more effectively, right?" he said, and Jack sighed again and nodded, moving to go back to the others, who had formed a group to talk.

Matt caught his shoulder pad as he moved away, "And if you ever need somebody to talk to, I'm here, man," he said, and Jack smiled, and nodded again.

"All right," called Matt, "Let's go, huddle up!"

**And another chapter is complete! I'm actually kind of pleased with it. It only took so long because I've never really written a musical scene (cause none of my other fandoms really call for it) so that took a while. But I hope it got here soon enough for those of you wanting an update. I promise virtual cookies for reviews. With real virtual chocolate chips.**

**Also, yes, they call it pop. They're from the Midwest, that's what we call it here. And a word about Jack: I like writing angsty, angry OCs that have family issues and little sisters they have to take care of. I can't help myself; they just flow out of my fingers.**

**Also, important question: I'm torn between Matt/Quinn and Matt/Santana, and so I figured I would leave it up to you guys. Which one would you rather see? There will be large amounts of both these friendships, but Matt needs a love interest, so it's up to you to pick one. Choose wisely!**

**Next chapter, another Glee assignment, Matt bears part of his soul to Kurt, with Mike's help, more flashbacks that deal with Finn and Kurt's current state of brothership, and the moment you've been waiting for, the first football game of the year.**


	5. Chapter 5

**So, the Quinn vs. Santana question seemed to be kind of split down the middle, so I don't know what I'm going to do. Maybe an OC? I don't know, but it'll be a couple of chapters before I need to start laying the groundwork, so I'll be pondering it. But I'm leaning a little bit toward Matt/Quinn, because Dijon Talton himself ships them, and it's just flowing better in my head right now.**

**And the only reason I can't write Matt/Kurt? Because every time I try to do it, my Kurt/Mercedes obsessed brain screams "Traitor!", cusses at me for a while, and completely shuts down when it comes to this story. Otherwise, I think I'd give it a try.**

**Also, I promised Glee club assignment, but the idea I had works better somewhere else, so I'm not doing that this chapter.**

"Hey, Mike!" yelled Kurt as he jogged to catch up with the taller boy after practice. Mike had actually managed to keep track of his keys, so he nodded goodbye to Matt and stopped to wait for Kurt.

"Sup, dude?" said Mike, shoving his hands into his pockets and letting his shoulders curl over in that easy way he had.

"Could I talk to you about something?" he said, and Mike just shrugged, "How come Matt came back that day? When Coach made us all choose? How come he came back to Glee? It's been bothering me since he told me about his plan."

Mike smiled, "Matt's my best friend, and I still don't really understand it. I think you'd better ask him. Matt has sick mad football skills, but he's as loyal as six or seven St. Bernards. But if you wanted my opinion, it was San who really convinced him."

"San? As in Santana Lopez?" Kurt asked in slight disbelief, and Mike just nodded, before grinning goodbye and walking to his car. Of course, with Mike, it was probably more accurately described as flowing to his car.

* * *

_Kurt: bring ur fancy video game deal over. u hav to teach me how to play the football game so i can beat Finn and gloat._

_Matt: b there in ten. wont take long. a monkey could beat finn, no coordination or planning skills in that dudes brain_

_Kurt: but he has video game experience, while i only hav DDR and GH._

_Matt: he's like a trained monkey dude. i love him like a second cousin, but there's a reason he plays on rookie most of the time_

_Kurt: get over here now, cause i don't even know what that means_

Matt: eta 6 min, madden 10 in hand

"That was at least seven and a half minutes," Kurt said when he opened the door, and Matt just shrugged as he shucked his Nikes off.

"I had to save a kitten and pitch in at a Habitat for Humanity build about half way here, and as awesome as I am at just about everything, even that takes a little time," he said as he handed over the game for Kurt to study and went to the fridge.

"I really love how you guys just raid my fridge whenever you come over," said Kurt as they headed to the basement, Matt with a Pepsi in one hand and a piece of cold pizza in the other.

"Consider it my consulting fee," he said as he collapsed on to the coach as Kurt put the game in.

"I acknowledge that I like you in public, that's not enough for you?" Kurt asked as he retrieved the controller and passed it to his friend.

"You'll always be enough for me, Kurt darling," said Matt dramatically, but Kurt just rolled his eyes and shoved him.

"Just show me how to play this game."

"First of all, Madden is not simply a game. It's pretty much a religion, like _Toy Story_, but you control the ending. Second of all, you are not wearing appropriate video game attire."

"You're talking to me about fashion?" said Kurt, looking over Matt's outfit of baggy dark jeans and a simple grey v-neck skeptically.

"You don't play video games in a fluffy sweater unless your grandma knit it for you and it's Christmas with the family. And you need proper pants for a good victory dance," he said, demonstrating his own dance, which gained him yet another weird look from Kurt, "Seriously, dude, go change."

Kurt huffed off to his closet, then to the bathroom as Matt loaded the game. When he emerged, he was wearing a bright yellow t-shirt with various colored neon paint splotches and looser blue jeans.

"See, that's better, and it wasn't even that hard. All right, what team do you want to be? And I swear, if you pick simply based on the colors of the uniforms, I'm leaving now, cause even my little sister doesn't do that."

"Well, my dad likes the Colts, would that be a good team to choose?" asked Kurt as Matt scrolled through the teams.

"Nice choice. All right, so you wanna watch me play for a little bit until you understand the controls a little better?" he asked, and Kurt nodded before stealing Matt's Pepsi from his side.

"Hey, Matt?" Kurt asked fifteen minutes later as Matt's team scored another touchdown. The other boy raised his eyebrows as he set up for kickoff, and Kurt continued, "How come you came back to Glee Club?"

"When?" Matt asked as he selected his next play.

"When Coach Tanaka made us choose, between football and Glee, you came back to the club, even though football is what you most want to do with your life. You've had a plan to play professional football since seventh grade, yet you quit the team for a spot in a club that you'd only been in for a couple weeks."

Matt was silent for a moment, then spoke without taking his eyes off the screen, "You know how in kindergarten, when the teacher asks for volunteers, and everybody nearly pees themselves trying to get picked, except for one kid? I was that kid, but it didn't seem to bother Mike that I didn't talk much, and with Mike came Brittany, and with Brittany came Santana. They've been my best friends ever since.

"And by the time Coach gave that ultimatum, I was so sick of football I literally wanted to vomit. The seniors didn't care that we sucked, so the rest of us weren't allowed to care, who knew what Coach was going to do, and the only guy that could score at all had just quit. I wanted to do this for the rest of my life, but, God, I was so sick of it, and I figured if I had to, there was always junior college or something.

"But you're right, it was a hard decision. I knew Mike wanted to go back, cause this was the first chance he'd ever really gotten to do music stuff, especially dancing, and that was something he was really passionate about. It was the first time that I'd gotten to do that stuff too, and while I'm not as crazy about dance as Mike is, I still like it a lot. And going back meant getting to spend more time with Santana and Brittany. But what really brought me back was San. She's like a sister to me, except I don't have to deal with living with her or actually being related to her. Mike's my best friend, the best dude a guy could ever meet, and he gets me on this ridiculous level, but San is different.

"I never have to be anything but myself around her, no fronts or anything, and she doesn't ever let me get away with anything. She calls me on my shit, and she called me on it that day. She said that it didn't matter what anybody else wanted, cause who the hell cared about what happened a quarter of the way through your sophomore year of high school. I should do what I wanted, and screw everyone else, cause she, Brittany and Mike would still love me.

"And that made it easy. Cause it didn't matter after that, what I chose, cause the three most important friends in my life would still be there with me. And I realized that I was so sick of football that I liked the sound of a little time off, and there's plenty of opportunities for football. This was the one chance I was going to get at something like Glee. So I took it," he said, shrugging as he ran for another touchdown.

"Wow," said Kurt from where he was reclining on the couch, "I think that's the most I've ever heard you say at one time." Matt shook his head and shoved his friend.

"You want to take over? I promise it's set at the lowest difficulty level, and I've given you a pretty big lead."

"I'd say that 49-0 is a pretty substantial lead, even if it wasn't set to the lowest level. It's not even the second half."

"I've been playing this game since, like, before I could walk. There's a couple new features every year, but after that, it's basically the same thing. I just own."

"You're really quite full of yourself, you know that?"

"It comes with the territory of being awesome."

"Seriously, are you sure your head will still fit through the door when you leave?"

"Just shut up and play, Hummel, cause I have a perfect record and I don't want you messing it up cause you were distracted by my awesomeness."

"You mean your ego? Cause the size of it makes it kind of hard to miss."

"If I punched you in the face, how badly do you think Mercedes would hurt me?"

"If you value the use of your limbs, I would refrain from that particular course of action."

"Damn. You don't deserve that girl."

"Don't I know it. Now, go grab the rest of that pizza from the fridge and a couple more pops. I'm starved, and not in the mood to count calories," Matt pumped his fist at the offer for a free dinner and hopped off the couch. He had just left the basement when he heard Kurt call after him, "Try not to hit your giant head on the ceiling."

Matt would have to remember to turn the difficulty level up when Kurt took a bathroom break.

* * *

"Bus leaves at 3:50 tomorrow," Coach growled, the players huddled around him at the end of Thursday practice, staring at the ground to avoid his eyes, "You get out of ninth period at 3:10. Don't be late to the damn bus."

The team remained in silence until Coach had driven off before Kyle stood, "Bring it in," he said, and the team gathered in, giving a half-hearted "Titans" and dispersing.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow, I gotta go pick up Quinn for our date tonight," said Puck, heading toward his truck without a backwards glance.

"I promised Brittany I'd take her out for ice cream tonight, so I gotta go too," Mike said, and patted down his pocket for his keys, "Crud, where are those-?"

Matt jingled his best friend's keys at him, "You left them on the bench in the locker room, and I've got math homework that my mom's been ragging on me about, so I can't give you a lift home. So I was on the lookout for them. Not that they're that hard to miss."

"Don't knock my key chain, you know it's a classic," said Mike as the two waved good-bye towards Finn and Kurt.

"Hot date with Rachel tonight?" Kurt said, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Nope. Only plans tonight are to show you a proper pre-game meal, bro," said Finn, throwing his arm over the smaller boy's shoulders.

Kurt rolled his eyes, but felt incredibly warm inside at Finn's casual use of the word 'bro'. Five months ago, he would have felt a very different thing with Finn's arm around him, but his crush seemed to have dissipated the longer the two lived together. And Finn's awkwardness had decreased every day.

* * *

_He remembered the first time that Finn had casually done that, draped his arm over Kurt's shoulder in a big brotherly way, even though Kurt was three months older then him. They'd been singing in Glee, one of their group jams that had made up the last month of school. Finn had sat between him and Rachel, and halfway through the song, he'd thrown an arm around both of them._

_ Rachel he'd pulled close, dropping a kiss on to her hair and tucking her against his side protectively. And Kurt had waited for the inevitable twinge of jealousy that came whenever he saw Finn's arm around someone else, but it had never happened. Finn had flicked his ear to annoy him, and when Kurt had sent him a fake glare, he'd just stuck his tongue out._

_ A week after that, Kurt had come into the basement to see Finn rearranging the furniture. Kurt's bed had been pushed up to his music closet, with his mirror and dresser on the other side of it. Finn's bed was against the other wall and his small closet was next to it, his clothes spilling out of it already. The couch was now set in the middle of the room, and a larger television was on the wall over several shelves that contain all the DVDs and video games that Kurt and Finn owned, plus Kurt's DVD player and Finn's Xbox._

_ "Finn, what's going on?" Kurt asked as he stopped on the steps to watch his friend adjust the rug in front of the television._

_ "You like the new tv? Your dad and my mom got it for my birthday," he said, but Kurt could tell he was avoiding something._

_ "Yeah, it's great, but why are you doing all this sudden rearranging? Isn't that my thing? And the addition should be done in a couple weeks, so you'll be moving anyway."_

_ Finn pulled nervously on the hem of his t-shirt, "Well, I noticed that you guys don't have a guest room, cause of, um, your mom's stuff, and even me and my mom had a guest room, cause sometimes my aunt would stay over, so I told your dad that we should turn the addition into a guest room. And I would just stay down here. I know things haven't been that great between us all the time, but I do really like you as a friend, and our parents really, really like each other. So I figured we should at least give it a try," he said, shrugging, "Plus, we always have movie nights down here, and I didn't want to steal the big tv."_

_ Kurt just stood there for a moment before he spoke, "Finn, would it be totally awkward if I hugged you right now?"_

_ Finn shrugged again, large shoulders making the gesture seem almost exaggerated, "I've never had a brother, but I think that's what they're supposed to do? Mike has like, seventeen brothers, should we ask him?"_

_ Kurt just rolled his eyes and hugged his 'brother'._

_

* * *

_

"Finn Hudson, there is no way I'm eating all of this," Kurt said as he looked down at the massive amount of food Finn had laid out on the table.

"Of course you're not eating all of it. I'm eating some of it," said Finn, as he reached out to grab several pieces of pizza and a Dr. Pepper. Sitting in front of the two boys was a large Meat Lovers pizza, a plate of hot dogs, three boxes of cereal, six Taco Bell Cheesy Potato burritos, and two pops and a bottle of water each.

"Do you understand how many calories there are in this meal? I can almost feel myself getting fatter just being near this stuff."

"Trust me, you'll need that energy tomorrow. You played like four games last year, and I'm sure you were just socked after all of them cause you didn't pre-game properly. It's my job as your brother to make sure you do that this year. Now eat some cereal and watch Frasier. I know those are two things that you have no limits on."

"Fine. But if I get fat, I'm making you come work out with me. Or I'm killing you. I haven't decided which."

Matt stowed his equipment bag under the bus and followed Mike on, collapsing next to him on the seat about three-fourths of the way down the bus, the section that was reserved for juniors by every tradition and ritual in sports. Puck, Finn and Kurt entered the bus a few minutes after, Puck and Finn taking the seat in front of them and Kurt stretching out on the seat next to them, as though daring anyone to take the other spot.

Matt had been surprised when he saw Kurt today. He'd expected him to completely forgo the ritual of wearing his jersey to school on game day, or that he'd look out of place in it. But he'd looked natural and at home in his white _3_ jersey and loose jeans, and Matt would be lying if he said he didn't envy Kurt just a little bit for his confidence in almost all situations.

It was about an hour bus ride to Piqua High, so Matt slouched down in his seat and fitted his ear buds in before settling down for a quick nap.

* * *

The team stood around the visitor's locker room, suited up in white jerseys and red pants, most holding their helmets, a few using them to hide from Coach Tanaka's angry gaze. It was obvious that there would be no pre-game speech from him or anyone else as long as he was in the room. Even when Coach left after one of the refs came in, no one made a move until Kyle did.

"All right guys, let's start this season out on a good note. Bring it in," he said, and the team gathered around him, each extending one hand into the circle, "Titans on three, one, two, three!"

"Titans!" said the team, and turned to charge out of the locker room.

"Helllllllloooooo, and welcome to the opening game of the 2010 footballllllllll season for your Piqua High Indiansssssssss!" said the announcer, and the home crowd cheered loudly as he began to read off the McKinley line-up.

After the coin flip and Piqua's kick-off, Matt pulled his helmet on and jogged out to the huddle as Finn talked to Coach. When Finn joined them, he had a puzzled look on his face as he told them the first play, but Matt shrugged it off as Finn's default expression and lined up.

The flashbacks to last season started a few moments after Finn handed the ball to Matt. The backfield was full of blue jerseys almost instantly, and Matt found himself spinning and swerving desperately before he'd even had a chance to look for the holes created by his blocks. Then again, he wasn't sure if there were any blocks to begin with.

He scrambled across the line of scrimmage and pushed forward when he collided with two blue jerseys and crashed into the ground. He glanced up at the marker for the line of scrimmage. Barely a two-yard gain. It was going to be a long game.

They went three and out with another hand off to Jack and an incomplete pass intended for Puck, and they were barely past Piqua's 25, so Kurt jogged out to punt it away and Matt collapsed on to the bench and let his head drop into his hands. The roar of the crowd two plays later alerted him to Piqua's touchdown, and he stood up to head back on to the field.

They were down 7-0 with 7 minutes left and the ball when Matt realized what was going on with the offense. As he jogged out to the huddle, he passed Coach and Finn, and heard the slur in the older man's voice. It was then that he realized that every play they'd run so far was from the first page of the playbook.

When Finn reached the huddle and started to say the play, Matt cut him off, "Don't bother man. Run J-Cut 54, left, on four."

"Coach said to run-," started Finn, but Matt cut him off again.

"Listen, Finn, fuck Coach. The guy is smashed right now, and he's not even bothering to look at anything but the cover sheet of the damn playbook. We're on our own out here. J-Cut 54, on four," he said, and clapped his hands together.

Finn handed the ball to Matt and he took off, not caring who blocked whom or what happened after he got hit. His anger at Coach pushed him farther and farther as first Jack, then Ron laid two Piqua players out. He felt someone catch him around the ankles, but kept going. The stumble was enough for the safety from Piqua to catch him from the side, but not before Matt had made it to the other team's 30.

"That's it, man!" said Finn as he threw an arm around Matt's shoulders. They weren't able to gain more then a few more yards in the drive, but they were already well within Kurt's range.

The rest of the half was a back and forth affair, and when they headed in at halftime, it was still 14-3. Coach didn't enter the locker room at all, and the team sat there in silence until Puck spoke up.

"This sucks," he said, and the rest of the team nodded.

"Come on, guys," said Mike from his spot leaning against the lockers next to Matt, "Two touchdowns and we got this thing."

"It's not just the losing that sucks. It's Coach, that asshole. What the hell does he think he's doing? Why the hell should we have to worry about plays and shit when he gets paid for that?" said Puck, but Kyle stepped in.

"Finn, I don't care what Coach tells you, you listen to Matt. I'll handle the defense, and Matt, you make the call on whether we need Hummel or not, and what you need him to do," Matt nodded, and the room was quiet except for the sounds of their breathing until the ref ducked his head in to warn them about time.

It didn't get any better in the second half. Even when they managed to make forward progress, it was usually marred by a penalty flag. The Titans were taking out all their anger on the other team, and forgetting about really trying to do anything football wise. Piqua scored a touchdown on their third drive of the second half, but Kurt chipped in two straight 35-yarders to keep them within reaching distance.

With 7:34 left in the fourth quarter, Finn scrambled for a three-yard gain down to the 32 on third down, and Matt waved his arm to signal Kurt on to the field. But as Kurt pulled his helmet on, Coach reached out and stopped him with a hand on the _3_ on his jersey.

"Go for it," he said gruffly to Matt and Finn when they jogged over.

"Coach, it's 3rd and 6, and it's well in Kurt's range-," started Finn but Coach cut him off.

"Goddamn, Hudson, who hired you to coach this team? Hummel, sit your skinny ass down like I told you to."

"Coach, we can stop them, and score twice, but we have to kick it here," said Matt, and Coach stepped right up into Matt's face.

"Listen, Rutherford, when I want your opinion on this, I'll give it to you. Understand?" he asked, poking Matt between the _11_ on his jersey. Matt just nodded, and he and Finn returned to the huddle while Kurt stayed on the sidelines.

Matt called a hand off to Jack, and they ended up three yards short of the first down. Piqua, with no pressure on them to score now, ran out 5 minutes of clock and scored anyway. The game ended that way, 28-9, and the McKinley locker room was silent as they filed in and sat on the benches, waiting to see if Coach Tanaka would come in. He didn't.

Matt leaned his head back against a locker, and seethed, trying to control his anger. It came as almost as much of a surprise to him as it did the others when he slammed the back of his fist into the lockers before taking his pads off and heading to the showers. The hot water stung the two new small cuts above his knuckles, but he ignored it and was dressing in his street clothes before most of the team even managed to make it into the showers.

Even Mike didn't talk to him on the bus, but that's more of a "my best friend needs space" thing then an "I'm afraid he might hit me" thing. When they got back to McKinley, Matt was one of the first off the bus, and out of the parking lot.

When he pulled up in front of the house, he rested his forehead against Gloria's steering wheel for a few minutes, taking calming breaths. His parents and Jane had been at the game, but the van was in the driveway and the house was dark, so Matt was sure to be careful and quiet as he entered the house. Quickly changing into his pajamas, he collapsed on to his bed.

He stared up at the ceiling, his Five Step Plan upside down at the edge of his vision, and hoped that his faith in the plan would translate into better nights then tonight.

**Sorry this chapter took so long. Band Camp swallowed up my life and only recently spit it out. And then Leverage kept giving me angsty!Nate plunnies, and I'm physically unable to resist those. But I finally did manage to finish this, and I hope you enjoyed it.**

**Next chapter: Our first foray into Mike's perspective, Matt/sister bonding, that Glee assignment I promised for this chapter, some football practice, another football game, and maybe some shippy undertones, depending on my mood.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Just in case you couldn't keep track, Mike has four brothers: John (13), Clarence (almost 11), Nick (9 and a half) and Pete (just turned 7). The songs used are my personal favorite Fall Out Boy song, and really the best title ever, "I've Got a Dark Alley and a Bad Idea That Says You Should Shut Your Mouth (Summer Song)", and the iconic "I'll Be There For You" by The Rembrandts. Also mentioned is "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor.**

Mike rolled over at the sound of Nickleback blaring out of his radio, and buried his face in his pillow. 9:27 on a Saturday morning, and 28-9 on a Friday night were not a good combination. As he sat up, he thought about what his friends would be doing right now.

Puck would have been up almost four hours earlier, gone for a run, and then been back asleep by 8:30. He'd wake up at noon and spend the rest of the day with Quinn. The two had basically been joined at the hip since Beth had been born.

Finn would sleep in until some ridiculous hour, grab lunch, and then shoot hoops for a little while or go on a killing spree through his Xbox 360, before calling Rachel to hang with. Or maybe he'd just hang out with Kurt.

Kurt would eat a ridiculous amount of cereal, work in the garage for a few hours, and then probably go shopping with Mercedes or work on homework in the basement. If Finn called him to hang out cause Rachel was busy like, feeding the homeless, or whatever it was that she did when she wasn't with Finn or making Myspace videos, the other eleven would probably all end up in the Hummel/Hudson basement, watching whatever movie they picked out of Finn and Kurt's extensive collection.

And Matt would do one of two things. He'd either run himself into the ground physically, then go back to sleep for the rest of the day, or he'd shoot hoops in the backyard with one of his sisters. Mike didn't know if Hailey was back from college this weekend or not, but he hoped she was. Matt needed her today. Later, he'd probably call Mike and they'd either go to a movie or crash Kurt and Finn's basement.

And Mike, well, he only had one way to work out the stiff muscles and anger of a loss. He scooped his iPod off his dresser and connected it into his radio, an old black hulking one sitting on the floor next to his bed. He used his foot to clear off a reasonably large portion of his wooden floor, and clicked play.

"_First I was afraid, I was petrified, kept think I could never live without you by my side_," sang Gloria Gaynor, and Mike laughed as he started moving. He remembered that first day of dance when he was little, and the peppy little teacher going down the row, telling them "A good dancer can dance to anything." So Mike let shuffle mode take over and danced.

His socks moved smoothly against the wooden floor, and his stiff muscles started to return to their normal fluid feeling as song after song played. Just as Mike Posner started playing, a knock sounded on the door and John yelled over the music.

"Hey, Mikey, Ma wants to know if you want breakfast, and Clary needs help with his history project 'fore Pa comes to pick him up on his way back to the store to drop him off at a friends," John paused for a second, "Ma wants to know if you want sausage or bacon."

"Both, Johnny. I'll be down in a second," said Mike, pulling the slightly sweaty wife beater off and scooping a regular t-shirt off the floor that smelled fairly clean. Pulling off his socks, he dropped them in the hamper by the stairs and padded downstairs in bare feet.

"Morning, Ma," he said, kissing his mother on the cheek before collapsing into his seat, "Clary, what's your project about?"

"Native Americans," Clarence said from his spot two chairs down, chewing on his toast.

"Don't speak with your mouth full," Ma said, clipping Clarence behind the ear with the spatula as she set the plate of bacon on the table, "Now don't any of you kill each other over the food. There's plenty," she made a point of saying as they lunged toward the plate.

"Thank you, Ma," said John, from next to Mike, and Mike flicked his younger brother in the ear.

"Suck-up," he said, but while he was distracted, Pete had reached across the table and stolen some of Mike's bacon, "Petey, you can't take my food while I'm teasing Johnny."

"All's fair in love and warts," said the seven-year-old, and the rest of the table broke out laughing.

"Where's Nicky at?" Mike asked as he mock-glared at Pete through his laughter.

"Probably still sleeping. He takes after his older brothers in that respect," Ma said, and Mike, John and Clarence all protested, "Oh, don't you all get to protesting. You know that if alarm clocks hadn't been invented, you'd never wake up. Now, Petey, here, he takes after his Ma. He knows that the early bird gets the worm."

"But the second mouse gets the cheese," said Mike, which earned him his own poke with the spatula and a round of laughter from his brothers.

"Just for that, I think it's your turn to go wake him up. Careful, you know he's a hitter," she said, and Mike grabbed a few pieces of bacon off his plate as he rolled his eyes.

"Don't you dare touch my food," he called back, turning to see John guiltily pulling his hand away.

"Yo, Nicky, it's wake up time, let's go. Our brothers are stealing my food as we speak," Mike said, landing a couple kicks on the door.

"Go awayyyyyyy," came the whining response from inside the room.

"Fine, no food for you then, I'll just have Ma give it to Clary. See if I care," said Mike, and was rewarded with the sound of scrambling from behind the door.

"Is Matty coming over later? He seemed sort of upset when we saw him after the game last night. Something happen with Coach?" Ma asked, and Mike shrugged.

"He hasn't texted me yet, but if Hailey's in town it probably won't be 'til later."

"You don't see it often, but that boy can certainly brood, and Hailey's the best medicine for it."

"Hailey's the best medicine for anything when it comes to Matt," Mike said as he nicked a piece of toast off of John's plate as Nick slumped into his seat across from John.

* * *

"_If you were the star in the night sky, I'd figure out how to fly, or just walk with my head high,_" sang Matt, firing off another jumps hot.

"Nice shot," said a voice behind him, and he turned with a small smile as Hailey walked into the backyard.

, "Hey, big sis," he said, passing her the ball. She caught it reflexively, and fired, "Swish. Nice shot yourself," he said as he rebounded.

"Well, I do play a little," she said, shrugging and Matt laughed a little, "Dad said you were out here pretty early. Game didn't go well?" she asked, and Matt shrugged.

"28-9. Had a chance late, down 12, but we went for it on fourth down and missed. They scored and it was pretty much over."

"Ouch. Bad break, baby brother."

"I guess," he shrugged, and took another shot. This one missed badly.

"Uh-oh. That's not your 'shit happens, but mostly to me, so don't worry' shrug, that's your 'somebody fucked up and I have to live with it' shrug. It's a patented middle child invention," she said as Matt chased the ball and passed it to her.

"I called for the kicker, and Coach got mad and then made us go for it."

"Excuse me, but why were you making the call on whether to kick it or not? What was Coach Tanaka doing?"

"Being drunk and generally not giving a shit," said Matt, shrugging.

"He was drunk during a game! What's going on?"

"We're just glad he bothered to show up. He's still messed up with this thing that happened with Miss Pillsbury last year, and it's making him kind of a dick."

"Matt, why don't you tell anyone! That's not something anyone should have to deal with!"

Matt shrugged, "It's better to have a coach who doesn't give a damn but generally let's us deal with stuff on our own than a coach who doesn't give a shit but is just trying to prove that he's 'in charge' or whatever."

"Oh, baby brother, I can't decide if this is one of your stupid moron ideas or stupid brilliant ideas. But no matter what, you know I'm just a phone call away, and I'll be back here as much as I can on the weekends, 'cause I only have two classes before noon on Friday and one class in the evening on Monday," she said, putting a hand on each of his cheeks.

"You're a good big sister, Hail."

"Yeah, well, you say that now, but as soon as I leave, you start in on that old song of, what is it you say now, instead of simply 'stuck between two midgets'?"

"Now I'm stuck between the accomplishments of one midget and the needs of another," he said, and Hailey punched him on the arm.

"All right, tomorrow, you and me are playing one on one, and I'm going to beat you so badly that your head will literally spin around on your neck. In the meantime, you going over to Mike's for lunch?" she asked, and Matt draped an arm over her shoulder.

"Yeah, I just gotta text him. You can come, as long as we take Sophia instead of Glo. I'm low on gas," Matt said as he pulled his cell out of his pocket.

_Matt: can me and hail crash lunch at your house?_

_Mike: yeah. ma's making her mountain of grilled cheese. plus you know you 2 are basically like her kids anyway._

_Matt: cause that's what your mom needs after you five. more kids._

_Mike: sumtimes, i think ma loves you more then all of us combined._

_ Matt: i don't know what alt universe you're livin in, but everybody luvs me more_

_ Mike: just come eat, will you. ma was worried bout you anyway._

_ Matt: b there in five in Soph

* * *

_

"Matty! Hailey!" came Petey's excited yell as the two older Rutherfords entered the Chang household.

"Petey!" Matt responded just as enthusiastically as Mike's youngest brother launched himself into his open arms.

"Hey, how come he gets a hug before I do?" asked Hailey, and Pete looked appropriately chastised as Matt put him down. With full-on puppy face going, he approached Hailey and opened his small arms.

"Oh, I can't stay mad at you, Petey. Your brothers, on the other hand, are a different story. Hey, Johnny, where's my ring?" she asked at spotting the teenager making his way down the stairs.

"Oh, darling, I'm sorry, but in this economy, it's simply not doable. We'll have to get married in better days. Just promise you'll wait for me," he said, dropping to one knee to kiss Hailey's hand.

"Hey, Mikey, your brothers are quite the charmers," she said as Mike pushed John out of the way playfully and scooped the smaller girl up in a tight hug.

"Eh, they learned from the best," he said, and then turned to Matt, "Your sister's like the best thing since buttered toast, you know that?"

"I actually do know that, if the stampede that occurs at your front door every time I bring her over is any indication," said Matt, as Mrs. Chang came out of the kitchen.

"Ah, just in time, you two. Hurry and grab your fill, before I let the herd loose," she said, and Matt stopped just long enough to kiss her on the cheek before ducking into the kitchen. They had time to grab a handful of half-sandwiches each before the call went out and the pounding of Chang feet filled the house.

"Oh, Matty," said Mrs. Chang, taking his hand and looking at the two cuts on the back of his knuckles, "What did you do?"

"I might have punched a locker last night. I was a little bit frustrated," said Matt, his inability to lie to his friend's mom making the effort not worth the trouble.

"Oh, Matthew. When we're done, I'll get the Neosporin, because losing two fingers won't make high school any easier."

Mike shook his head at the interaction between his mom and his best friend, and snaked a hand across the table to grab some of Nick's food.

"Mom, Mikey's stealing my food!" said Nick, and Mrs. Chang turned from Matt to look at the ten year old.

"You snooze, you lose, Nicky," she said, shrugging, and the rest of the table laughed.

Matt smiled. No expensive therapy session could ever beat lunch with the Chang family and his sister.

* * *

"All right, guys, so for the past couple weeks we've focused on solos and small groups, and we've had some really awesome performances, both in the weekly assignments and in the open forum," Rachel grinned broadly here, as most of the club rolled their eyes, "But this week, I want to focus on our group dynamic. And a big part of this group is the year you've spent in Glee Club together.

"But, you haven't always been together, and a lot of you weren't even on friendly terms before Glee. And that's the first part of your assignment this week," said Mr. Schuester, "To find a song that represents your lives and relationships before Glee. And because we all like happy endings, the second part is to find a song the represents you now, as individuals and as a club. Now," he said, clapping his hands together, "I'll leave you guys to it. I've got a couple of sophomores that need some help with 'ir' verbs."

Rachel moved to stand and speak immediately after the door shut behind Schue, but the rest of the club breathed a sigh of relief as Puck beat her to it, moving to put his iPod on the dock they'd all pitched in for at the beginning of the year. The group had been chattering since Schue left them to their own devices, but they quitted as the sound of Fall Out Boy filled the room.

When the song ended, it was Rachel who spoke first, "That really is an excellent choice, Noah."

* * *

"Hey, hey, knock it off!" said Matt as he pushed Ron and Henry apart. A fight had sparked between the two over a blocking assignment at the beginning of the mini-scrimmage and had continued until it came to blows following the last play.

It was the fifth fight among the offense alone, and Matt could tell that Kyle was having his own problems with the defense. Everyone was so angry about the situation with Coach and whatever else that was going on in their lives that football had become secondary. Matt was one of the calmest people at practice, but everyone was still avoiding him because of the punch against the lockers at Piqua.

Another scuffle broke out in the defensive huddle, and Kyle finally snapped, grabbing the two guys by their facemasks and yelling at the rest of the team to bring it in.

"Go home, everyone. We're not getting anything done, and if one more fight breaks out, I'm going to kill somebody. Go home, chill out, and come back tomorrow ready to play, rather then fight with each other. Bus leaves at 4:15, if you're late, you're left," he said, and then strode off, fuming just as much as the rest of them.

Matt sighed and joined the rest of the silent team as they made their way to the locker room.

* * *

Third period found Matt and the rest of the guys changing out of their white jerseys into the fitted black shirts that they'd chosen, and grudgingly allowed Rachel to approve, for the performance. Artie was already out on the stage, helping set up the sound equipment, and the girl's had taken over the Glee room, forcing the guys into the changing room behind the stage.

It only took the girls ten minutes longer than the boys, just enough time to review the minimal dance steps with Finn before the girls came out, dressed in a similar fashion to the boys, simple black shirts and dark jeans. Mr. Schue followed them in, taking his place at the table halfway through and opening his notebook.

"All right guys, why don't you show me what you came up with," he said, clapping his hands together and leaning forward.

Puck took a deep breath and stepped out of the line they'd formed across the stage as Artie and Finn played the intro with the band, "_Joke me something awful just like kisses on the necks of best friends, we're the kids who feel like dead ends_."

Kurt was next, stepping out of the opposite end of the line, "_And I want to be known for my hits not just my misses_," he sang, holding out the last note as Rachel and Mercedes stepped out of the center of the line.

"_I took a shot, and didn't even come close, at trust and love and hope_."

Tina and Santana were next, "_And the poets are just kids who didn't make it, and never had it at all_."

Finn rose somberly from behind the drums, and Artie followed him as he handed his guitar off. Finn stood behind Rachel, and Artie wheeled next to Mercedes and made to take her hand, but both girls shrugged them off and moved toward Puck and Kurt as the other two sang, "_And the record won't stop skipping, and the lies just won't stop slipping, and besides my reputation's on the line_."

"_We can fake it for the airwaves, force our smiles, baby, half dead_," sang Mike and Brittany, spinning around each other and looking helplessly in love. Matt glanced over at Quinn, looking nervous as instructed, and found her looking back in the same fashion.

"_From comparing myself to everyone else around me_," they sang as they joined hands, still looking uncomfortable as they glanced toward Brittany and Mike still dancing at center stage, representing the perfect high school couple.

"_Please put the doctor on the phone, cause I'm not making any sense_," sang Rachel, standing off to the side under Puck's arm, but glancing back towards Finn, standing behind the couple. He smirked, and Rachel lowered her eyes, not able to meet Puck's as he smiled down at her.

"_Blame everyone but me for this mess_," followed Kurt and Mercedes, mock fighting on the opposite side of the stage as Artie sat, talking with Tina and Santana, who both appeared smitten with him, but keeping his eyes on Mercedes and Kurt the whole time, and smirking as Mercedes stormed across the stage. He caught her hand as she passed him and kissed it. Tina and Santana stormed off in a huff, stationing themselves under Finn's arms.

"_And my back has been breaking from this heavy heart, we've never seemed so far_," sang Matt and Quinn, moving as far apart as they could manage without losing their grip on the others hand, eyes locked on Mike and Brittany, apparently perfectly happy dancing in front of them.

"_I'm hopelessly hopeful, you're just hopeless enough, but we never had it at all_," sang Puck, looking suspiciously back at Finn, who just smirked and gave Rachel a once over as he pulled Tina and Santana closer.

"_And the record won't stop skipping,_" sang the girls from their various spots on the stage as Finn strolled across the front smirking at the various couples, Tina and Santana still tucked under his arms and Rachel's eyes following him. Mercedes kept glancing toward Kurt, lonely on the edge of the stage as Artie smiled up at her and tried to catch her eye.

"_And the lies just won't stop slipping_," followed the boys, Puck desperately trying to catch Rachel's attention, Kurt staring sadly at Artie and Mercedes, Matt glancing towards Quinn and then away nervously, Mike still looking content and happy with Brittany, and Finn smirking at them all.

"_And besides my reputation's on the line_," they all sang as the twelve of them slowly started to drift apart, even the couples. "_We can fake it for the airwaves, force our smiles, baby, half dead, from comparing ourselves to everyone else around me_," they were all facing the front of the stage, and slowly turned to face different directions as they faded out, "_Everyone else around me_."

They stayed quiet for a moment, eyes cast downward, shoulders slumped and defeated looking, until the first note of the next song played. As the intro rang out from the band, they formed a single line across the stage, arms falling around each other's shoulders one at a time to the beat until Rachel and Mike's arms fell around Finn's shoulders in the center at the same time.

"_So no one told you life was gonna be this way_," sand Finn, smiling, "_Your job's a joke, you're broke, your love life's DOA_."

"_It's like you're always stuck in second gear, when it hasn't been your day, your week, your month or even your year but_," followed Rachel as they swayed, and then the group joined in.

"_I'll be there for you_," they sang, the boys dropping out halfway through to follow with, "_When the rain starts to pour_."

"_I'll be there for you_," and this time it was the girls who sang, "_Like I've been there before_."

"_I'll be there for you, cause you're there for me too_," the line broke apart and formed a half circle around Mike and Brittany, who once again took center stage to show off.

"_You're still in bed at ten, and work began at eight_," sang Mercedes, and Kurt spun her as he laughed and picked up the lyric where she left off.

"_You burned your breakfast, so far things are going great_."

"_Your mother warned you there'd be days like these_," sang Quinn and Tina, Tina standing with her hands on Artie's shoulders, and Quinn wrapped in Puck's arms, her back against his chest as she smiled up at him.

"_But she didn't tell you that when the world has brought you down to your knees that_," chorused Artie and Puck, Artie laying his hands over Tina's and smiling up at her while Puck hugged Quinn closer and smiled back at her.

"_I'll be there for you_," they sang, and the process repeated itself, the guys and then the girls, and then the group finished it out as one unit.

Mike stepped out of the end of the line they'd formed as he sang, "_No one could ever know me_," and he smiled and hugged Brittany as she stepped up next to him to sing, "_No one could ever see me_," Mercedes was next, and Brittany pulled her into the hug with her free arm as she continued the line, "_Since you're the only one who knows_." And Kurt followed her, resting his head against his best friend's as he finished her 'thought', "_What it's like to be me_."

"_Someone to face the day with_," sang Matt as he emerged from the other end of the line, and Quinn quickly followed him, grabbing his hand and allowing him to twirl her as she sang, "_Make it through all the rest with_." Puck grabbed her other hand as he sang, and she turned her attention from Matt as he did, "_Someone I'll always laugh with_."

Artie wheeled himself forward as he sang, "_Even at my worst_," and Tina followed him with, "_I'm best with you, yeah_," and then Santana started the final verse, "_It's like you're always stuck in second gear_." Finn and Rachel completed the line as they sang, "_When it hasn't been your day, your week, your month, or even your year_."

And with one final push, they finished with, _"I'll be there for you_!"

They stood, breathless and laughing together on the stage as Schue applauded, "Wow, guys! Just wow! You managed to capture the spirits of both parts of the assignments _exactly_, and your portrayal in the first time and your energy in the second one just took the cake! Let's keep this same vein up next week, class dismissed!"

* * *

Matt was slammed into the ground again after a four-yard gain for a first down. He heard a scuffle break out behind him, but ignored it. He'd already spent too much time trying to break them up tonight, so he just returned to the huddle and glanced up at the scoreboard. It read _35-13_ in bright yellow numbers, and Matt sighed as he replaced his mouthpiece after calling a pitch to himself.

The world slowed down as he watched Finn pivot to toss the ball to him, and Matt realized just how angry he was as well. Everyone else was pissed, of course, but here he was, trying to get noticed by college scouts and having to worry about running the damn team too. And then he was off, running until he finally heard the whistle as he crossed the goal line. He thought that maybe he had been hit several times during the course of the play, but he hadn't even bothered with them, simply running and running until the whistle demanded that he stop.

But the team was still too angry with everything that they didn't even care what was happening, only that they wanted to take this fury out on someone, and by the very nature of the sport they played, they were provided with a ready made punching bag.

Matt scored one more time and Kurt kicked another field goal, but they still lost, 38-30. Matt didn't punch any lockers this time, but he still didn't talk to anyone on the bus. After all the anger he'd left on the field that night, he just felt empty. He didn't sleep on the way home, choosing instead to stare out the window at the countryside flashing by.

He felt empty and aching, and he simply didn't have room for any emotion in him right now. Two games into the season, and it seemed like the only step he'd ever accomplish in his Five Step plan, the one he'd thought would be hardest, was sitting across the aisle from him, listening to his iPod.

Matt Rutherford was starting to lose faith in football for the first time in his life.

**All right, quick note about the performance described in this chapter. I was part of a youth choir who did performances around our town for different things, and this was one of our 'message' songs, about how your relationships affect your life, especially when you're growing up. The choreography and voice parts described in here are the same as our performances, but we had sixteen members, so some of the relationships in the first part got mashed together. Quick rundown for you: Brittany and Mike represent the happy couple obviously, but their part got mashed from two. In our choreography, the middle, ideal couple is happy because they're completely oblivious, while another couple strolls around the stage, seeing all the problems, but enjoying their relationship any way. Puck and Rachel represent a couple where one is in love but the other is pining for someone outside of the relationship, and the other is desperately trying to keep the relationship together. Kurt and Mercedes are the couple that constantly fight, but seems unable to actually be apart. Artie is the guy who pines after another guy's girl, and is all to willing to be the rebound, even though he knows she's still wrapped up in her old relationship. Quinn and Matt represent the couple that has drifted out of their once happy relationship, and are now envious of Mike/Brittany for having what they used to have, but are unwilling to actually end the relationship. They're holding on with all they have, and it's ruining what friendship they may have been able to salvage. Finn represents the playboy who has suddenly made it his mission in life to get the one girl he can't have, even if she's already in another relationship. And Tina and Santana are the girls who let the need for love and affection overrule their better judgment at times. The missing relationship? The only actually couple in our group sat at the edge of the stage and kissed the whole time, representing the couple that's to wrapped up in their physical relationship that they don't have a healthy relationship outside of that aspect.**

**Umm, ridiculously long author's note is ridiculously long. I leave you now, with next chapters preview: Matt runs (a lot), and then gets some inspiration from Quinn, Jane and Hailey, Mike and Matt have a heart to heart as BFFs, Mike gives Matt a wake-up call about his roll on the team during said heart to heart, Kurt gets tackled by Azimo, Finn and the rest of the team get hella defensive, and Matt kicks somebody off the team and gives out some inspiration of his own.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A few notes: I made Azimio a senior, so that he's a grade older then the others, but I didn't want all the important characters, with the exception of Jack, to be juniors, and it was sort of needed for this to work. Also, a little more language in this chapter then in previous ones. Just be warned.**

His alarm clock blared at 5:15, and Matt rolled over to stare at it for a few seconds before he hit the snooze button and rolled out of bed to change. After pulling on a pair of shorts and an old cutoff, he grabbed his keys from his dresser from next to his wallet and headed down to the kitchen. Scribbling a note to his parents that he'd be back in time to give Jane a lift to her soccer game if they needed him to, he left it on the counter and headed out to his car.

It was a ten-minute drive to the field, and Matt spent most of it in silence, deciding half a song in that the radio wasn't what he wanted to listen to, and he didn't have the energy to search for a CD. When he arrived at the field, he parked in a spot next to the gates, and grabbed a zip sweatshirt from the back to ward off the early September chill.

He walked to the home bleachers, taking a deep breath as he stood at the bottom of the left set of stairs. Slipping his iPod earbuds in and pressing play, he took another deep breath and took off, the pinging of his feet against the metal of the stairs barely audible over his music.

Up, across, down, back, up, across, down, back, up. He lost track after the fifteenth trip, but didn't really care, pounding his way through trip after trip, until he felt like his lungs were about to explode, and then he went around a few more times. When he finally was unable to force his legs to continue up the steps, he hopped over the railing and landed softly on the track below.

Making his way to the 50-yard line, he collapsed in the middle of the bright red M, his earphones falling out as he rested his head against the turf. He figured he'd been running for almost an hour, but the only sounds he could hear were the soft _whoosh_ of cars as they drove past on their way to work and the faint music still coming from his earphones.

As he stared up into the lightning sky, he almost wished that gravity could turn off for a moment and he could tumble off the ground and into the endless abyss above him. It seemed empty and comfortable and problem free up there, while here it was hard and crowded and he felt lost among all his dreams and expectations.

Matt was too worn out to move, but he really needed water, and was just contemplating how he was going to manage that, when a bottle of water was set on his chest and someone sat carefully next to him. He would have thought it was Mike, but the person sat too gently for it to be his best friend. Mike moved so easily that it really appeared that one second he was standing and the next he was sitting, almost collapsing in one smooth, yet somewhat robotic, fashion.

He turned his head and his gaze was met by the green eyes of a smiling Quinn Fabray. Her hair glowed softly in the early morning sun, and Matt had to shake himself slightly before he gripped the bottle with his left hand and smiled back.

"You looked like you needed that," she said, and he laughed as he unscrewed the lid.

"Yeah, thanks," Matt said, taking a long drink, almost draining the bottle, and then resettling it on his chest for a moment. The silence between them was comfortable, but Matt was a little puzzled as to how she had known he was here. As far as he knew, only Mike and Matt's only family knew about his early morning 'work-outs' and even his family didn't quite know the extent of them.

"How'd you know I was here?" he asked, taking another, smaller, sip.

"I was driving by, going to the dance studio to work-out a little bit when I saw you doing your last few rounds. You looked pretty tired, and I figured you might need that," she said, indicating the water bottle he held.

"Well, thanks again. I wasn't sure if I was ever going to be able to get up to get myself any, so I'm glad you were prepared," he said, smiling as he tried to reach the last few drops within the bottle with his tongue.

Quinn laughed and pulled it out of his hand. Just as he was going to complain, she handed him another full bottle with a grin and a quirked eyebrow. Matt almost said _You're an angel_, but that didn't seem like something he could actually say to Quinn, so he settled for telling her, "You're like magic."

She laughed again, and Matt decided he should definitely try to get her to do that more often. Kurt seemed to be pretty good at it; he'd have to ask him for some pointers.

"Well, I'd better get going if I want to get any work done. Puck said he'd call me after his run to go get breakfast," she said, and Matt waved a little as she stood and walked off.

About ten minutes later, after he'd finished the second water bottle and stretched, he made his way back to Gloria Alexandra, turning Julia Nunes up loud on the way home.

* * *

Jane was already downstairs eating cereal and watching reality television when he got home, and he used the remote on the kitchen island to change the channel when he walked in.

"Hey!" she said, turning around to glare at her older brother as he started to fix his own bowl of cereal.

"That stuff will rot you're head, Jane. Besides, you like SportsCenter," he said, indicating what was now playing on the TV with the orange juice he'd just grabbed.

"Of course it will rot my brain, that's what it's for," Jane answered, swatting Matt on the arm as he sat next to her on the couch with his bowl of Cap'n Crunch and his orange juice, "Speaking of things that will rot your brain."

"Don't be judging on my cereal, half pint," he said, swatting her back when he'd set his glass down on the coffee table, "Why are you up this early anyway?"

Jane raised her eyebrows at him like it was obvious, and when he just shrugged, she rolled her eyes and said, "I couldn't sleep, we play Rollin's Tires today," at his further look of confusion, she continued, "I hate those bitches."

Matt laughed, and then gently scolded her, "Hey, watch your language. I'm the one who gets in trouble with mom and dad for being a 'bad influence' on you or something."

"You are a bad influence on me," she said, and he laughed, but it quickly became a sigh when something about football popped up on the screen, reminding him of last night's, and this season's, failures. Jane turned to him, her girl and sister senses tingling the moment the first breath of the sigh escaped his lips.

"Spill," she said simply, and when Matt hesitated, she continued, "Hailey's better at this stuff then I am, but I guess you're just stuck with the shorter half of _The Rutherford Sister's Psychology Firm_."

Matt shrugged, but at Jane's continued stern look, he said, "It's just, I thought maybe this year would be different. I thought that this would be when I finally got to show of what I could do, really set up my future. But now, I'm not just playing, I'm having to coach the damn team too, and everyone's so angry about, well, just about everything that nobody's really playing to play. They're just playing to beat the crap out of someone."

Jane sat in silence for a moment, to make sure he was finished before she spoke, "Well, big brother, I would say that this is a situation that you have to embrace. There's not a lot of people who get the chance to do what you're doing, and I think you have to just go with it. Is it easy? No. Are things that are worth going for often easy? No. There's this incredible opportunity out there in front of you, Matt, and I think it's time you took advantage of it. You gotta whip those boys into shape."

Matt smiled at his sister's words, "You're pretty smart for a runt, you know that?" he said, pulling her into a one armed hug.

"I actually did know that, but it's always nice to hear it," she said, and Matt shook his head and pushed her a little.

"Go upstairs and get changed for your game. I don't understand why they have these things at such ridiculous hours."

"So I can kick ass and then still hang out with people for the rest of the day," called Hailey down the stairs.

Matt laughed as he called back, "Language!"

* * *

Matt grabbed a Gatorade out of the fridge and took his laptop off the counter. Jane had caught a ride over to a friend's after the game, and his parents were going out for a late breakfast, so he had the house all to himself and he intended to take advantage of it.

Clicking on the TV and muting it, Matt cranked up the latest Jay-Z album and opened his Facebook. He had new messages from Hailey and Mike, and clicked on the one from Mike.

_Hey, you and me and two six packs of Jone's Green Apple. Tonight, and I even know where my keys are so I can drive. The usual spot?_

Matt smiled at his friend's words and typed out a quick response: _Hell yeah! Don't lose your keys, cause Glo is low on gas. I'll meet you at your house at 10._ After he sent it off, he clicked on Hailey's message.

_Hey, little brother, I heard the game didn't go that well. But Mom said you scored a couple times, and that the little kicker dude had a few pretty impressive kicks. Sorry I couldn't be back, but Sven starts soon and we wanted to spend some time together before his life gets swallowed by football._

_Speaking of Sven, he showed me this video when he heard you guys were struggling a little bit, and that maybe you in particular needed a little inspiration. I know you're not exactly country music's biggest fan, but I think you'll like this one. And even if you don't like the song, I think you'll like the video. Here's to better Fridays from here on out, Matthew!_

_Me and Sven might stop by next weekend, so I'll see you then. If I don't, I promise I'll see you soon!_

Matt smiled at his sister's message and clicked on the link at the bottom of the page to bring up a YouTube video. The video was labeled: **Kenny Chesney- The Boys of Fall**, and as the opening speech began to play, Matt smiled at Sven's perception of the situation. He knew his sister was dating a smart kid.

"_I got your number, I got your back, when your back's against the wall_," sang Kenny, and Matt smiled again. Maybe all wasn't lost this season after all. Maybe all they needed was some togetherness. But achieving this togetherness was going to be a challenge that Matt wasn't looking forward to trying to overcome.

* * *

They were silent all the way out of town, the glass pop bottles jingling on Matt's lap as the radio played the only sounds. Mike slowly drove them several miles out of town, one hand on the steering wheel, the other constantly fiddling with the radio as he slouched back in his seat. Matt stared out the window at the passing trees and late fall crops.

When they'd gone about four miles outside of Lima, Mike pulled off on to a deserted gravel road. After another few miles, he again turned, this time into an empty gravel lot, where he parked the car and shut if off. Matt handed one of the cases off to him as they both climbed out of the car. Stationing themselves on the hood, both boys cracked open a bottle and lay back.

Lima was no New York, but the light pollution was enough that the only way to really see the stars was to go out of town. Mike and Matt had discovered the lot during a camping trip with their dads when they were 15, and had started coming out regularly when Matt had gotten his license. It was a good place to think or talk, and the two friends did quite a bit of both.

"You have this awesome opportunity, you know that?" said Mike, taking a long drink from his pop and keeping his eyes on the stars as he addressed his best friend.

"What's that?" asked Matt, also not taking his eyes off the sky.

"Tons of guys would kill to be in your position, not just leading, but_ coaching_ their high school team, and don't kid yourself, dude, you know that's what you're doing. Don't waste it."

"And if I don't want to be coach?"

"I'd call bullshit, and anybody who knows you well would too. Just because you're quiet doesn't mean you're not a leader. In fact, it makes you a better leader, cause most of those guys respect you as a hard worker who keeps his mouth shut and does his job. A lot of them are ready to follow you already."

"What about Kyle? He's a captain, he's a senior. Why isn't this his job?" asked Matt as he handed another Jones to Mike and grabbed one for himself.

"Cause Kyle can lead them, and he can run the defense like a machine, but he can't inspire them. He can't get them to buy into it. He's not a man of words; he's the kind of guy who lets his actions speak for him. Kyle leads by example, and that's awesome and all, but today, right now, this season, they need somebody who can give them words, as well as action, someone who can take all this raw talent and anger and love of the game and shape it into a winning team with his voice and his actions. And that guy is you," said Mike, and Matt looked over at his best friend for the first time since they'd climbed on to the hood. Mike didn't use unnecessary words, ever, if he could help it, so Matt knew he meant every word of what he said.

"And also, you're the most talented guy on this team, and that includes Kurt. But you've been walking on egg shells so far, because you don't want to call too many handoffs or pass plays for yourself, but, man, you and everybody else on this team know that if the offense doesn't run through your feet and Kurt's leg, we're doomed. You're the star, baby, and it's time to stop being afraid of it and embrace it. This is your chance to show the people who need to see it what you can do, and you can't let a couple of dicks who think you're hogging the ball stop you."

Matt looked over at his best friend, who still hadn't looked away from the sky as he took a drink of his pop, "You really think that?"

"Dude, I _know _that. You're the key to this whole thing, brother," said Mike, finally looking away from the stars to Matt, "You're the thing that makes this whole team run. And, yeah, pun intended."

Matt grabbed yet another pop and smiled up at the stars, "Well, I guess I better get to work then." He got his chance the next Tuesday.

* * *

Kurt smiled slightly as he watched another long field goal soar through the posts. Finn looked back and grinned at him, flashing a thumbs up as he rose from his knee to retrieve another ball from the pile they'd set up to avoid having to walk the 50 yards down the field to retrieve the ball he'd just kicked every time.

"Hey, guys!" called Matt from his spot further down the field with the second team offense, "We're gonna work on extra points for a while, come on down." Kurt scooped his helmet off the turf and followed Finn towards the rest of the team.

The first five reps go well, and Kurt only has to dance out of the way of defenders once, and even then Finn gets in the way of one of them and the other isn't pursuing him that hard because it's practice and the play was over anyway.

But on the sixth rep, Kurt followed through his kick, watching it sail through the uprights despite the fact that Jim had tipped it. Everyone had basically stopped playing, helping the guys who were down back up and starting to move back to position, when suddenly Kurt's back erupted in pain and he found himself plummeting towards the ground, trapped under a weight only made heavier by his surprise at the sudden hit.

His back has never hurt this much, and his lungs have never felt so empty. He doesn't think he's ever seen Finn move that fast.

* * *

Matt didn't think he'd ever seen Finn move that fast. But he was up from his holding position in a matter of seconds, dragging Azimio off his stepbrother by the shoulder pads. Matt had seen Azimio rushing towards Kurt's blind side, but his call of warning hadn't even managed to escape his throat before the larger boy had wrapped his arms around Kurt and leveled him with a bone-crushing tackle.

"What the hell, man?" said Finn, delivering a hard shove to Azimio's shoulders, "You don't hit the fucking kicker!"

"Guess I didn't see the ball get kicked, so I was just doing my job, Hudson. Or are you too stupid to comprehend what 'defense' means? Besides, the little fairy needs to get hit every once in awhile. Maybe it'll man him up" Azimio said, and Finn threw himself at the lineman, trying to pull the other boy's helmet off so he could hit his face properly. Kurt still lay on the ground, curled in on himself, and Mike stooped down to help him up as Matt rushed to break apart the two fighters.

"Hey, hey, knock it off!" he said as he pulled Finn up and then dragged Azimio up as well. Using his arms to keep the two apart, he turned to Azimio, "I think Finn deserves an honest answer, you jackass."

Azimio snorted and tried to walk off, but Matt's hand curled in his practice jersey, his anger seeping through and getting the better of him as Azimio spoke, "Little fairy don't belong out here with us, and I think it's funny how y'all keep pretending he does. I was just trying to show him that we're not all fooled by his little act."

Matt let go of his jersey, but only to give him a shove of his own, "You know who doesn't belong out here? You, asshole. So why don't you leave now?" he said, and when Azimio still didn't move, he gave him another shove and shouted, "Move your fat ass, Azimio, and don't bother coming back. Ever."

Azimio just snorted again, and turned to Kyle, "Dude, you hear this kid? Thinking he's all big man on campus, when he's not even in the same grade as me, much less a captain."

But Kyle just stared at him coldly before he spoke, "You're right. He's not the captain. He's the _coach_, and when the coach tells you to get the fuck out, you get the fuck out, got it? Or do I need to speak slower and use smaller words?"

For a second, Azimio just stared at them all, before he gave a huff of annoyance and shook his head, "Whatever. Like it's just a bundle of fun being on this sucky team with losers and fucking fairies anyway," and he turned to walk away as Mike helped Kurt up and Jim restrained Finn with a cautious hand on his arm, but a sudden white blur appeared in front of him and landed a punch squarely on his jaw.

Azimio was actually floored by Jack's hit, and Jack placed a cleat in the center of the larger boy's chest, to use for leverage as he leaned over him to say, "How about you watch your language? And I think Matt asked you kindly to get the fuck out. You should probably hurry," he said, taking his foot off Azimio, allowing him to scramble up and leave in a hurry that he certainly hadn't been in before.

The team turned away from watching Azimio walk away to look at Matt, who'd gone over to check on Kurt, who brushed him off and promised he was fine, that he'd only gotten the wind knocked out of him, and Matt turned to see all eyes on him. He met Mike's eyes, and his friend gave him a nod, indicating that this was one of those times where Matt had to step up and hand out some serious inspiration.

Taking a deep breath, he pulled his helmet off, and spoke, "Listen, guys, I know this year hasn't exactly gone how any of us were expecting it too. And I know you're all angry about stuff, and not just about Coach's shit. That you're dealing with all kinds of stuff with school, teachers, parents, friends, girls, siblings, you name it. But you can't let that anger control you. Yes, use it, take all that anger and bottle it up and pull it within yourself and then use it to propel yourself forward. No, don't let it blind you or mess you up and throw you off course. If you don't control it, we can't win.

"You have to stop playing as just angry kids who want to hit people, and have to start playing for each other. You have to look at the guy next to you, and know that you're willing to do anything it takes to help that guy win this goddamn football game. It's not always going to be easy, and I'm not saying that you're always going to be friends with the guy next to you. Sometimes, you're going to hate his ass, but you have to get past that and keep playing. This team can be something special, and I know you can all feel it too. If we pull together, we're going to do some awesome things. And I think that we're all ready to win some games, right?" The team had been silent up until this point, most of them shocked that Matt could actually talk this much, but they gave a cheer at that.

Matt smiled and pulled his helmet back on, "All right then, we have a game on Friday, so let's get going again. We've got an hour left of practice, and we've got a lot of work to do if we want to win some games this year!"

**Okay, so I hope that the inspirational parts were actually inspirational and not just cheesy. And I also hope that the Matt/Quinn wasn't too cheesy, but just enough cheese that you thought it was cute but realistic. Also, I'm still not sure how I feel about Kurt/Jack, since I haven't really developed anything for Jack other then anger and family issues, but the idea definitely intrigues me, and I was wondering if it intrigued anyone else?**

**Next chapter: Matt gets slushied, a little bit of Matt/Quinn, Kurt gets beat up, the Glee guys get protective of Kurt, another football game, and some other stuff that I haven't decided on yet.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Okay, so the thing about Matt's injury when he was eight actually happened to a friend of mine when he was seven, and his doctors still don't know a lot about how he healed. It was a bit of a medical miracle, and I've always thought that his recovery is a really neat story, so I put it in this story.**

"Yo, Kurt!" called Matt, jogging to catch up with the kicker as they exited Glee. "Did you understand the Pre-Calc assignment at all?" he asked, and Kurt raised his eyebrows.

"Do I ever understand anything to do with math?" he asked, and Matt laughed.

"Hey, Rutherford!" said a voice that Matt would have recognized if he'd had the time, but he looked towards the sound without thinking about it. His world exploded in a sudden burst of red, and Matt cried out as his eyes burned. He heard Kurt curse next to him, but he was already dropping to his knees and curling in on himself.

Matt could hear Azimio's voice as he walked past, "That was for Tuesday, asshole," but his eyes hurt so much that he couldn't concentrate on anything else. He curled further in on himself, cursing softly and thinking _not again, not again_.

He could feel someone pulling on his shoulder, hear people calling his name, but all he wanted was the darkness to prevent his eyes from hurting anymore. It didn't seem to be doing any good, but the futile darkness was better then the blinding light. The hand on his shoulder managed to push him over, and the light spilled in through his clenched eyelids. He barely turned a scream into a shout of pain.

"Matt, Matt, calm down, we're right here, we're trying to help you," said a voice he might have recognized if he could think past anything but the pain in his eyes and the coldness that seemed to be enveloping his whole world. He made out the words 'choir room' from the same voice, and two strong sets of hands pull him off the ground and tug him in that direction.

He was roughly deposited on the floor, and he heard two voices apologizing as they moved away from him. Matt clasped his hands over his eyes again and attempted to curl up, but again someone stopped him.

"Hey, Matt, we've gotta wash out your eyes. Come on, Matty, let us help you," he almost recognized the voice, but continued fighting, because that's what he did in situations like this. Two strong hands clamped over his wrists and pulled his own hands away from his eyes as someone squirted a water bottle into his left one.

As the red cleared from his vision, he could see Quinn's face above his own, one hand on his head as she used the water bottle to clear out his eyes. She cleared the other eye out, and Matt could see that it was Tina holding his hands back. Mercedes and Kurt were sitting on the other side of the room, Mercedes helping Kurt clean off his own face.

"Go check on the boys, make sure they don't kill anyone. That would only complicate things," Quinn said, and Tina released Matt's hands as she and Artie left. Quinn ran a towel over his head and face, wiping away the last bits of sticky cherry goop. It was now that Matt realized just how cold he was.

"You cold?" asked Quinn, and Matt nodded as shivers overtook him, and Quinn handed him a plain white t-shirt, his own sweatshirt and the towel. She turned away slightly to give him some privacy, and Matt quickly changed, using the towel to clean the slushie residue off his chest before pulling the shirt and sweatshirt on.

"Better?" Quinn asked, turning back around, and Matt nodded. Her hand came up to rest against his cheek to wipe away a bit of slushie she had missed before, but her fingers still brushed over his face even after she was done. Kurt and Mercedes were talking quietly across the room, but Matt couldn't really see anything besides Quinn's eyes.

"Bastard put lemon juice in it!" said Puck as he slammed the door closed. Quinn's hand jerked away from Matt's face faster then anything he'd ever seen in his life, and he turned around to look at Puck, unable to meet the other boy's eyes. "That's why it stung so much more than normal. Matt, Hummel, you guys okay?"

Matt turned to look at Kurt, who appeared to be fine, except for redness of his right eye. He turned away, knowing that it was his fault that Kurt had been hit. Azimio had been aiming for him, and Kurt was just bonus points. Quinn leaned down to catch his eye, with a look that clearly said _We'll talk later_.

The warning bell rang for fourth period, signaling that they all had one minute to get to class. The group broke apart, but Matt remained on the riser steps, face buried in his hands. He figured that everyone had left, but a hand came to rest on his back and he looked up to see Quinn still sitting next to him, eyes full of concern.

"You sure you okay?" she asked, and Matt shrugged, not meeting her eyes. "Why'd you freak out so badly?" she continued, and Matt just shrugged again.

"First slushie, was just a surprise," he said, but she clearly didn't believe him.

"Oh, come on. You weren't going to let me anywhere near your eyes. Tina had to pry your hands away and we still barely got you calm. What's the deep, dark secret?"

Matt sighed, staring down at his hands, "You didn't go to elementary school with me, but, uh, the summer after second grade, I had an accident. I was in the kitchen, sitting on the counter by the stove and my mom was on this cleaning spree, I guess, and was making lunch. Hailey needed something, and my mom left this bottle of Windex on the stove. One moment, I was sitting there, and the next, the bottle had exploded, and I was blind."

He stopped to swallow hard, and looked up at Quinn, who had tears gathering in her own eyes, " The pain was incredible, and I, uh, was almost completely blind for just over five months. At the best times, I could make out the color blue, but I always thought that was just the Windex left over in my eyes. And then, one day, my vision got a little better, and the next day it was a little better, and by the end of the school year, my vision was almost back to 20/20. It was a medical miracle. My vision should have been gone forever, but here I am today, sight fully restored."

"But you still freak out when anything gets in your eyes," Quinn said, recognition filling her voice. "Like that time freshmen year, when they were doing those eye exams, and they were putting those drops in our eyes to look for scratches and stuff, and you freaked out big time and ran out of the gym."

Matt smiled grimly, "Yeah, I remembered they tried to make me go to counseling, thought I had some kind of irrational fear. I went to one session, sat there sullenly, and then they looked at my medical records and put the pieces together. My mom was so angry at them for that."

"Well, I think Puck will be taking care of Azimio for his little stunt today without hearing about this, so we'll just keep it between us. Cool?" she said, placing a hand on his shoulder. And suddenly, he can't speak, because it's like the presence of Puck, and Quinn's relationship with him come crashing back into his world, this world that had for a few minutes contained only him and her and the slushie stained towel that they were both holding on to, it's like the presence of the other boy, his _friend_, had come in and blocked off his airway. So he just nodded, but Quinn didn't seem to notice anything, so he just helped her up and offered a tight smile before heading off to class.

He wanted to make her laugh, to see that beautiful smile more often, but as he picks up his books for American History, he wonders how much one smile will cost him.

* * *

Kurt walked into the Glee room after school with the collar of his shirt stretched out and a fresh bruise forming along the underside of his jaw line.

"Dude, what the hell happened?" said Finn, jumping up from his spot next to Rachel and crossing over to Kurt, who winced as Finn's hand reached out to touch his arm.

"Azimio and Karofsky cornered me after lunch, landed a few punches before I managed to get away," Kurt said, rolling up his sleeve to show them several dark bruises forming on his upper arms.

"That's fucking it!" yelled Puck, and was already out the door before the rest of them had even comprehended what was going on. As soon as they did, Mike, Finn and Matt stormed out after him. Seeing him round a corner and then hearing a scuffle, they increased their speed.

Azimio was, for once in his life, without Karofsky permanently attached to his side, and Puck had already landed several good punches by the time the others arrived. Finn landed a kick against the bigger boy's side mostly on the principle of defending his almost stepbrother, but Puck had done most of the work already.

He stood over Azimio, barely breathing hard and glaring in such a way that if looks could kill, Azimio would be dead, buried and decomposing, "Listen, you asshole. If you touch Matt or Kurt, or anyone else on the team again, I will not only destroy your reputation at this school with barely any effort, I will rip at least one of your limbs off and run it up the flagpole. Because I'm that much of a fucking badass."

Puck didn't even wait for Azimio to answer before walking off, the rest trailing behind him caught between awe and some feeling they couldn't identify. Matt had a funny taste in his mouth, and it took him a few seconds to realize that it's because he was angry with Puck for defending him. It was irrational and unfair and selfish, but it still welled up inside of him, bitter and guilty.

To cover up his feelings, Matt laughed, "Wow, Puck, I didn't know you liked Kurt enough to rip off limbs." The taste didn't go away, but Puck didn't notice, so he lived with it.

Puck scoffed, "It's not that I like the little shit, it's just that nobody messes with my teammates."

Finn laughed and slapped his friend on the shoulder, "Whatever you say, dude. And don't call Kurt a shit." Matt smiled at the easy friendship between them. This world, the world of basic teenage boy jock, he could handle. Other worlds, he wasn't so sure of.

* * *

The locker room had fallen silent, and Matt turned away from his locker to find all eyes on him. He closed the locker door and picked up his helmet from the bench. Fiddling with the straps, Matt met Kyle's eyes, but the older boy just smiled and nodded at him. Taking a deep breath, he met Mike's eyes, and began to speak.

"It's the first home game of the year, but more importantly, it's our first game as this new team. Our first chance to really show the fans, the students, everybody who is going to play us that these McKinley Titans are here for real. That this year, we bring it," he paused for a moment, then walked into the middle and raised his fist in the air. Taking the silent cue, the rest of the team gathered around Matt and put their own hands in.

"Who are we?" he shouted, and the team chorused, "Titans!"

"What are we going to do?" he followed with, and the team was silent for a moment until Kyle's voice filled the quiet, "Bring it!"

And then it went again: "Who are we?"

"Titans!"

"What are we going to do?"

And now it was the whole team, one great roar unleashed within the walls of the small locker room, "Bring it!"

They charged out the locker room, and Matt had no doubt how this would end. The McKinley Titans were truly going to bring it.

* * *

Matt took the hand-off from Finn, and moved around left end. A linebacker waited for him ahead, and then suddenly, he didn't. A lineman had cut him down and now there was nothing in front of him but green, and he almost skipped into the endzone.

The crowd roared, and Matt looked at the scoreboard: _48-0_. Kurt would come in, and they'd be leading by almost half a hundred. He raised his arms in victory, and Puck reached him first, throwing his arm around Matt's waist and giving a loud whoop. And because it's a game, and he's used to this world, he's not bothered by it.

The McKinley Titans had arrived, and Matt didn't plan on them leaving for a while.

**I'm so, so, so sorry that this took so long, but marching band has swallowed**** up my life, and has just recently sort of spit it out. And it's kind of short, but I hope you guys will forgive me, and the next chapter will be out sooner, I hope!**


	9. Chapter 9

Yes, I did have this idea before the show did it. I just didn't get a chance to write it before the episode aired. And it's a good idea, so let's all share.

And I do apologize for the wait on this. It's been a combination of a silent (at least for this story) muse, and real life bogging things up. Hopefully, I'll be able to get another chapter out over Christmas break, but I'm making no promises. I'm sorry these waits have gotten so long.

**Disclaimer: I know I haven't told you guys for a while, but I still don't own Glee.**

"All right guys, this week, it's all about partners!" said Mr. Schue, rubbing his hands together in the way that he did when he thought his idea was just 'stellar', whatever that meant. Matt rolled his eyes at the enthusiasm, but since he hadn't been here for a few of the debacles of the last duets assignment, he was kind of looking forward to it.

Without consulting Mike, he hopped over the row of chairs he was sitting in and fell into a chair next to Quinn. She laughed at him, but he wasn't deterred by it, and glanced over at Puck, who seemed to be talking to Finn and paying very little attention to what Mr. Schuester had said.

"Ms. Fabray?" he asked, trying his best to look shy and failing miserably. But she laughed, and Matt considered it mission accomplished as he continued, "Would you be at all interested in doing a duet on a Julia Nunes song with me?"

Her smile faltered for a second as she glanced over at her boyfriend again, but he was still absorbed in his conversation with Finn, and her smile returns full force as she turned back to Matt, "Mr. Rutherford, I'd be delighted."

He returned her smile, and then looked down, really shy this time, "Well, uh, we've both got practice after school, but I'll text you when we get done, and we can make a plan." Quinn nodded, her own shyness coming through in the simple movement.

Mr. Schuester called their attention back to the front, and Matt moved back to his spot next to Mike. But he couldn't stop himself from looking back over his shoulder at Quinn, who was now nestled comfortably under Puck's arm. The little pull of jealousy wasn't as bad this time.

_Matt: u got a plan?_

_Quinn: ur house at 7? my mom is insisting on 'family' dinner but I should be able to get away by then_

_Matt: sounds good, gives me time to get rid of the stank_

_Quinn: boys r gross_

_Matt: but fabulous_

_Quinn: i thought that was just Kurt_

_Matt: different kind of fabulous_

_Quinn: c u at 7, fabulous_

Matt fiddled with his phone as he and Mike headed for his car, Mike's keys having mysteriously vanished again.

"Seriously, dude, you have got to just stop giving those things to Brittany whenever she asks. I love her, but she will not remember whose keys those are, and one of these days, she's going to give them to a complete stranger and you're not going to have a car," Matt said as he started the car and headed for Mike's house.

"Have you ever tried to say no to Brittany's puppy face? Saying no feels like you kicked an actual puppy in the face, and then told a small child that Santa does not exist. It feels like getting a cavity in your heart. It's like-."

"All right, all right, I get it. It's hard as hell. But you need to start building up a tolerance for it. Are you and Brittany working on your duet tonight?"

"Yeah. She's coming over for pizza, and we're watching YouTube videos for dance moves until we find song inspiration. We don't really know what we want to do, since my normal partner abandoned me for the pretty blonde white girl," Mike said, his smile making it impossible to think he was really hurt.

"You do not share my obsessive love of YouTube artists like Quinn does. And besides, two dudes doing a Julia Nunes song without a girl would be kind of creepy in public."

"Whatever. You obviously don't love me enough. And you know what they say about Asians that don't get enough love."

"What?"

"I don't know, I was hoping you did," said Mike and laughed as Matt rolled his eyes and turned the radio up.

"I have mostly warm pizza, some kind of noodle thing, it might be soup, or Cap'n Crunch, both with Crunch Berries and without if you're interested," said Matt as Quinn left her coat on the kitchen table as he'd instructed.

"I think I'm full from dinner, but I might have a bowl of Cap'n Crunch later. I haven't had any of that since I was a kid."

"Quinn, you have been missing out. It's one of my main food groups. Cap'n Crunch, other cereal, Taco Bell, pizza, Pepsi and Gatorade."

"Sounds healthy."

"My body is prime. I don't put crap in the temple," he said, grabbing two pieces of Meat Lovers and the box of Cap'n Crunch with Crunch Berries, pouring a bowl before he took a seat next to Quinn in front of the computer.

"So, what song were you thinking of for our collaboration, Mr. Rutherford?"

"Well," he said, pulling up his iTunes and searching for the song he wanted, "I was thinking 'The Debt' would be good. It's kind of fun and bouncy, very friendshippy, and it's my favorite song of hers."

"That sounds perfect, Matt. And it'll be easy to duet on. You want to go first, or should I?" she asked, and he pressed play with a smile.

"Be my guest, Ms. Fabray."

Quinn returned his smile and met Julia at the first note. Matt almost missed his cue a few lines later.

Thursday, Matt was just finishing changing, glad for the bye week and hour earlier that they'd gotten out of practice, when he heard arguing outside the locker room. Telling Mike to hold up, he couldn't help his curiosity as he leaned against the door. It was Puck and Quinn.

"Babe, I don't understand why you don't just dump him and come work with me."

"Maybe because the song is due tomorrow, or that I like him, and the song we're doing. And you already have a partner."

"Yeah, Santana. That usually goes well for me. Way to help out with the not cheating on you thing, Quinn."

"It's my fault now that you can't control yourself around girls for more than a few minutes without your girlfriend around? You made that promise without any prompting from me, remember?"

"But you're supposed to be supportive. I have a problem."

"Puck, listen, I'm not dropping Matt as my partner. He asked me first, and maybe if you had been paying attention, you would have gotten to sing with me. Just drop it, okay? It's just one duet. Matt and I are friends, nothing more. I love you, remember? And I believe in you, and your promise."

"Yeah, whatever. It just bugs me sometimes. I love you, too," said Puck, and then Matt heard his footsteps as he stalked away, still not sounding happy with the situation.

Turning away from the door, Matt gestured to Mike and the pair set off for his car.

"What was that about?" Mike asked once they'd gotten out of the parking lot and were heading for his house.

"Nothing. Just Quinn and Puck arguing."

"That doesn't surprise me. How those two have managed to stay together amazes me. Like, don't get me wrong, I like them both, Quinn a lot, but I can't see the clickage there."

"Yeah," said Matt, the word a sigh, before he turned down the radio slightly, "I think I like Quinn. Like, _like_ her."

"Cool," said Mike, "Like, not the her already having a boyfriend and you liking her thing, but the you liking Quinn thing. I like her, and you'd be good for her. She needs some kind of stable presence in her life."

"Yeah," Matt said again, the word still a sigh, "I just don't know how to deal with it. How do you like a girl, without destroying her relationship and making her hate you?"

"You be an awesome friend. Whenever she needs to talk to someone, you're there. Whenever she needs a shoulder to cry on, you're there. When she needs a duet partner or someone to laugh with or someone to go on a massive Taco Bell run with and buy all her tacos and then take her to Wendy's for a frosty, you're there.

"And when and if her relationship ends, you give her space and time, and let her come to you, or you let her know your feelings at a time when you're not just taking advantage of her being upset and emotionally unstable," said Mike, and Matt looked at him in astonishment.

"How do you know all this, bro?"

"You remember when I had that massive crush on Brittany in seventh grade, but she was 'dating' that St. Pierre kid, the one with the big red afro who moved the next year? Well, that's what I did. And even though I eventually dated Brittany for that summer, the best thing about it was that it made our friendship a thousand times better, too, and it just kept getting better, even after we broke up."

"Dude, what did she ever see in that St. Pierre kid any way?" asked Matt, turning the radio back up, signaling the end of the serious talk for now, in the way they'd signaled it since they'd discovered music and each other.

"Uh, did you see that afro? Do you think Brittany could resist wanting to get her pet on? I could barely resist the urge. Plus, St. Pierre, kind of an awesome name."

"These facts you speak, they are true. And wasn't he like some stud wrestler, and like, ripped out of his mind under those baggy sweats and oversized sweatshirts?"

"Yeah, that was him. Dude thought he was total gangsta, what did he call it, his 'rap handle' or something? What was it?"

"DJ Da Saint. I remember, because he basically considered me a God because I could remember rap lyrics by the handful. I'm pretty sure it was just because I'm black though."

"Dude, St. Pierre was about as clear as Kurt is. But with hair like that, I suppose it was a blessing. Any color would have made him look like a carrot dipped in ketchup."

"Thanks for putting that image in my head, Mike. How's you and Brit's song going anyway?"

"Good. We're concentrating more on the choreo than on the vocals really, and Brit's handling most of those. I'm mostly just back-up."

"That's where you mostly belong," said Matt, sniggering as Mike sent him a death glare.

"Oh, shut up and let me out of this death trap. I've got shit to do."

"See you tomorrow, man," said Matt, and Mike smiled and waved as he walked up the front sidewalk to his house.

"Ready?" he asked Quinn, falling into the seat next to her.

"I think so," she said, her smile nervous, "We're up after Mike and Brit."

"You'll do great, I'm sure," he said, smiling at her, and her smile lost a lot of its nervousness.

After Mike and Brittany finished with their routine, Matt and Quinn grabbed their stools and took their place on the stage. Matt looked over, and he didn't think Quinn could look better, her hair loose and slightly glowing in the stage lights. But she still looked nervous, staring out over the other members with uncertainty.

They'd switched parts, so Matt started it out this time. The band began, and Matt counted off before joining in, "_I bet you thought that I forgot about our deal, but I am a man of my word, though they be strange and absurd, I'm just trying to keep it real_," and in a moment of strange inspiration, he reached out for her hand and took it as she started.

"_And I know I lost the bet, but I haven't lost you yet_," she sang, and smiled as Matt contributed the beatboxing from her side. She squeezed his hand and continued, "_And if drinking lemonade for the rest of our days would save you_."

"_I'd do it_," Matt joined her for the last line, and then took over on the next verse, "_Remember Regina and Sara and cereal bowls, and wearing our hats even though it's not cold_."

"_And I'll never relate to your city peeps, cause I do most of my thuggin' on suburban streets_," she sang, and all nervousness had disappeared, though she still held his hand as the sang the last line of the verse together, "_I'm terrified, but I'm fine, when I'm with you_."

Matt took the bridge, "_You know I love it when you sing, but I'd love it even more if you'd stop hitting things, regardless, I'd be heartless,_" Quinn echoed him as he finished, "_Without you._"

"_Yeah, you're stuck with me for the rest of our afterlives_," they finished together, having had to cut out a verse for a swear word they couldn't bare to leave out because it meant altering a JuNu song, which was pretty much a sin in their books.

Matt had been wrong. She could look better, that smile wide and her hand clasped in his. He looked at Mike in the audience, who winked and clapped.

"Why do you like Julia Nunes so much?" asked Quinn, coming up next to Matt's locker after school.

He shrugged, "She makes good music, she's funny, she's not mainstream."

She just kept walking next to him, as though expecting more, so he continued, "And she's real. She's not just saying that stuff to get you to buy her records. You can empathize with her, and she can empathize with you. It's personal."

Quinn was silent for a moment, "That's why I like her, too," another beat of silence, "I'm really glad we did that duet, Matt."

"Me, too, Quinn. Anytime."

She smiled, "Are you going to Kurt's tomorrow? I hear Rachel is volunteering at some shelter, so she won't be there," Quinn said, smiling at the thought.

"I'll definitely be there then," said Matt, and Quinn's grin widened and she walked away, winking over her shoulder at him.

He thought maybe Mike was a genius, and had just been hiding it the whole time.

**Next chapter, epic basement bonding, and a little bit of drama. Plus more Kurt, as he's been sadly missing from these past two chapters for the most part.**


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